


New Endeavours: Reflections of Darkness

by ChristaWolf, LonghaulHoofer



Series: New Endeavours [5]
Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Star Trek: Mirror Universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-25
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2018-09-19 21:52:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9461777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChristaWolf/pseuds/ChristaWolf, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonghaulHoofer/pseuds/LonghaulHoofer
Summary: "Space: The final conquest. These are the voyages of the starship Endeavour. Its continuing mission: To subjugate strange new worlds. To advance our dominion and vanquish all who stand against us. To boldly conquer what no girl has conquered before!" Adjacent to the Prime universe is an alternate one, where the Federation has been replaced with a Terran Empire. Visited in the past by Kirk and Spock, the Mirror Universe is a cutthroat place, where only the strongest survive.





	1. Survival of the Fittest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ISS Enterprise attempts to subjugate Equestria, but Empress Celestia is having none of it. She joins with the Terran Empire instead, while planning to stab the Terrans in the back with their own breed of humans.

Baron Orion Shadow trotted alone through the dark streets of his village, wearing his normal outfit of a dark pinstripe suit with a black necktie. From behind him came the sound of wings, and then hooves landing on the grass. When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring into a familiar blue muzzle and a pair of teal eyes. He smiled. “Good evening, Enforcer Luna. How good to see you.”

Luna smiled back, showing sharp teeth. “It is good to see thee too, Baron Orion. Fly with us, there is something we must share with thee. We trust that thou knowest the spell?”

“Of course,” Orion said, and his horn flared to life. A set of bat wings sprung into view a few moments later, and off they flew.

* * *

Luna and Orion landed outside the former’s balcony, and then she led him into a part of the castle that had remained undisturbed for a great many years. Inside there was a cell, and on the bed was chained a grey earth pony that Orion would find very familiar.

Orion gaped, unable to process what he was seeing, “But... how can this be, Luna? I saw him die!”

Luna nodded, and jerked her head to the sleeping Longhaul. “All was not as it seemed, Orion. Mr. Longhaul had apparently been playing as a double agent... but the decoy was killed before he could tell us anything more.”

"But why not tell me sooner?" Orion asked, angry.

Luna glared at him. “It was best for national security. To us, Longhaul was still a wanted criminal for the actions that his decoy performed against the Imperial throne.”

“And I don’t regret a damn moment of it,” said Longhaul, his eyes flying open. He struggled in his chains. “This country still needs a political revolution... we can’t keep going on like this for much longer. You’re a smart pony, Orion. You could be a good one too, if you tried.”

Orion spat on the floor. “I will not join you,” he said. “My allegiance is to Equestria, not an idiotic Earth pony like yourself. You are a traitor, and you deserve to be treated like one.” He lowered his head, horn aglow. “Goodbye, Longhaul.” A blast of magic later, and Longhaul was lying dead on the floor.

Orion chuckled softly, then turned to Luna. “We’ll have the corpse kept in the morgue for safe- keeping... it could come in handy someday.” Then he turned and left the room.

* * *

A few weeks later, the sun found itself blocked by the hull of a gigantic grey menace. The ISS Enterprise had sailed into the skies of Equestria, blocking the sun and laying waste to its most populated cities. Nothing, it seemed, was capable of stopping the carnage.

In Ponyville, an android with bone-white skin and black hair clad in a yellow and black tunic adorned with a small badge showing the Earth bisected with a sword materialized by the town square. The place was empty, by order of the local ruler, Lord Orion Shadow. He tapped the badge on his chest and spoke quietly. “Data to Riker: I have arrived in the town known as Ponyville. Has the raiding party completed its takeover of the central government?”

“Negative, Mr. Data,” came Commander Riker’s voice. “The equines are proving to be surprisingly resilient at resisting us, I believe their abilities could be very useful to us if they are assimilated into the Empire. Your mission is easier: capture the local ruler and return him to the Enterprise, we’ll deal with them there. Riker out.”

Data walked through the town, his eyes falling on what was easily the tallest building there. It was a tall, opulent, imposing manor house with two gargoyle statues perched on either side of the front door, as if guarding it.

A grey furred unicorn pony exited the house and walked down the long path to Data, frowning. “State your business at once, or you’ll be summarily executed!” he barked.

Data is momentarily taken aback by the sudden appearance of the creature. "Hello there. I am Commander Data of the ISS Enterprise, representing the Terran Empire. May I ask your name ... sir?"

“Lord Orion Shadow, ruler of Ponyville and representative of Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Celestia,” said the pony. “Would you care to explain why you are here?” It wasn’t a request.

Data paused for a moment before continuing. “We... we have come because your world is an undiscovered one, rich in natural resources that the Empire desperately needs. We seek to colonize your world and bring it into our Empire. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.”

Orion’s horn began to glow a dark blue color. “Tell your superior officer, Commander, that the ponies of Equestria will never submit to such subjugation! We’ll send you screaming back to where you came from, never to return!” He fired a quick burst of magic from his horn, hitting Data in the chest.

Unaffected, Data drew his phaser and the two began a quick firefight. “Commander Riker was correct in his assertion that your abilities would be of use to us,” Data said. “Will you allow yourself to be taken aboard the Enterprise for further review?”

As he spoke, a white and blue sphere crackling with raw magic consumed the Enterprise, ending the barrage that was consuming Canterlot, Trottingham, Manehattan, and Las Pegasus. Orion smirked. “I do believe, Commander Data, that it will be you and your friends who will be reviewed.” Turning away, he shouted “GUARDS! Ready my chariot and have us brought to Canterlot immediately!”

“Right away, your lordship!” said a couple of Imperial Guardsponies, who quickly ran off to do as their lord had asked of them.

* * *

The Imperial throne room in the palace at Canterlot was the type of place that immediately squashed any hope for such weak traits as ‘mercy’ or ‘compassion.’ Dark-crimson stains remained on the otherwise-impeccable marble floor. Guard ponies staffed all open areas. Earth ponies held spears at the ready. Unicorns used their magic to wield swords and daggers. Pegasi buzzed the upper reaches of the room like a swarm of angry wasps, their lances acting as deadly stingers at even the slightest hint of a threat.

In the center of the room were two opulent thrones. One throne was smaller than the other. On the smaller throne sat Luna, and in the larger throne, Empress Celestia Solaris rested herself. Her face was held in a sneer as she regarded the human standing before them. “Human, I am going to be frank: you are lucky to be alive. Given the failure of your pathetic attempt at subjugating our world, it is only because I am in such a good mood after the annual Festival of the Sun that I have allowed you to live in the first place. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I have come to make you an offer, your Imperial Majesty,” replied Captain Jean-Luc Picard, thrust into the role of negotiator. He stood before the empresses dressed in his finest uniform. A jagged scar ran the length of his scalp, a clumsy attempt by an underling to scalp the old man and take command of the ship. He wore a patch over his left eye, a souvenir of putting down a rebellion of some ‘surly Nausicaans,’ as he would recount with glee each time he told the tale. “The Terran Empire is falling. The combined forces of the Cardassian Union and the Klingon Empire have whittled our territory down to our own solar system. Your assets, specifically the magic your kind wields, would be beneficial to us. We would be able to repel, perhaps even destroy, the Klingon and Cardassian governments, and bring both species into our Empire as slaves. In return, your assistance ensure your hoofhold in countless other star systems beyond this world. You could become more powerful than you currently are.”

Celestia drummed a hoof against the foreleg-rest of her throne. “Tell me, dear sister,” she said in a voice dripping with venom, “how would you like to rule worlds beyond what we already know?”

Luna dropped her head in a submissive posture. “We would like such an opportunity very much.”

Celestia grinned, her mouth revealing sharp teeth. ”A good start, human.  Rest assured, we will be making further ... requests for concessions from your Empire, but in the spirit of--"  she choked on the word— "cooperation, we will be lenient and reasonable in our requests.  We will reconvene tomorrow to discuss the plans further.  Leave my sight before I change my mind and destroy you and your foes myself.”

Picard bowed, never once taking his eyes off of Celestia. “You honor me, Empress.” He followed the guard pony out of the throne room.

As soon as he left, Celestia leaned over and said to one of the other guards, “Bring the prisoners to the courtyard. Select five of their junior-ranking crew and kill them immediately. Do this so they know not to cross the Equestrian Solar Empire.” The guard bowed and ran from the room, with Celestia cackling loudly with glee.

* * *

Meanwhile, a young botanist named Emerald is trotting down the hallway of the Canterlot library, inspecting the paper held in her magic. She has pale yellow fur and curly brown hair, with a pair of rectangular black glasses perched on her muzzle. As she walks, she bumps into the Imperial Archivist, Twilight Sparkle, and immediately freaks out. "Sorry sorry sorry don't hurt me I wasn't watching where I was going don't kill me please!"

“Little high-strung, aren’t ya?” Twilight chuckled. “Juts be glad it was me and not one of the nobles, or even worse, the empresses. You would have been dead before your first ‘sorry’ was finished.” She studied the pony closely. “You’re kinda cute. What’s your name, sweetie?”

"Emerald Wave, ma'am," Emerald says, smiling nervously. "I do a bunch of odd jobs around town, like trying to create synthetic replicas of zebra compounds with a friend of mine... we haven't had much luck though." She floats over the list. "Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated."

“Is that so?” Twilight purred. “Well, I might happen to have a ‘job’ for you ... so, why don’t you come back with me to my office and tell me allllllllllll about your research...” She wrapped her tail around Emerald’s and snuggled up close as the two walked back down the long hallway.

* * *

Luna sat alone in the throne room, Celestia having wandered off for her daily ‘afternoon delight.’ As she drummed a hoof idly against her throne, one of her personal minions entered the throne room and prostrated herself in front of the lunar empress. She carried a wooden box, held aloft in her magic.

“Rise, our faithful one,” Luna said. “What have you brought us today?”

“The archaeologists have returned from the Griffon Sea, my mistress. They bore this box with these inside.” She opens the box to reveal what appear to be fish scales. The scales were hued differently, indicating they had come from three different creatures.

“Are these what we think they are?” Luna said lifting one scale with her magic and studying it. A smile crossed her face. “Yes! These are true siren scales. We vanquished those vile creatures centuries ago!”

“What does my mistress wish to do with these?” the minion asked.

Selecting three scales, one of each color, Luna closed the box. “Give those to the Imperial Museum of Sciences. Let them be displayed for all to see.” Placing the three scales in a velvet pouch, she whispered to the minion, “Secret these away in our bedchamber. We may have use for them later on.”

“I serve the Lunar Empire,” the minion said quietly, before exiting the throne room.

* * *

Time went on, as it always did. Orion became the Terran Empire’s advisor, overseeing their activities as they gained a foothold in his beloved country. One afternoon, a letter arrived from Canterlot, summoning himself and Raven immediately. They quickly caught the first train out of town, and were in the royal palace within a couple hours.

When they arrived, Epress Celestia and Enforcer Luna stood in the entrance hall, along with Imperial Archivists Twilight Sparkle and Emerald Wave.

“Thank you all for coming, your promptness is noted,” Empress Celestia began, nodding to the four Ponyvillians. “My sister and I have summoned you for a very important reason. Your service to us has been exemplary, and is about to be rewarded in a most novel way. None of you are required to undergo what we are about to ask of you, but it would be in your best interests to do so.” She grinned an unsettling grin, hinting at the consequences of refusing her benevolence, then gestured to Luna. “Would you like to continue?”

Luna nodded, and began to speak. “We have been working with the Empire to find a way to preserve the best and brightest Equestria has to offer. Because it is simply not possible to send all four of you into space, other methods have been discussed. The solution we have come to is called cloning. Is anypony familiar with this process?”

Emerald raised a hoof, “I was reading last week about a group of scientists over in Germaney who were working on perfecting the perfect breed of attack dog, one noted for ferocity and loyalty to its creators, by selectively fusing DNA from different breeds and allowing them to gestate in the normal fashion,” she said.

Luna nodded, “That is more or less what we plan to do. What this means is that by the time the process is completed, there will be one clone for each of you around, for you to raise as you would your own foals. But there will be one caveat: these clones will not be fully equine, as you four are. Instead, they will be half equine, and half human.”

Raven smirked. "I think it's a novel idea to turn battle centaurs loose upon these feeble creatures," she said with a chuckle.

Luna sighed. "Not quite that, Lady Raven. We mean that these new creatures will have the physical forms of humans with equine traits, such as colorful skin tones and use of unicorn magic."

“Ah ... all the better for infiltrating the human scum and forcing them to bow before the true might of the Equestrian Solar Empire,” Raven cackled. “I would be honored to participate, your most gracious one,” she said, bowing deeply.

“Yes, now it makes sense ... of course I’m in! I serve my Empresses well!” Orion answered. “I ask one indulgence of you, my empress.”

“Speak,” Celestia commanded.

“I ask that my clone be female. My observations of this Terran empire show that males are the dominant ones. Having a strong female in a position of power would be just enough to shake their empire to the very core.”

“Your request has merit, dear baron,” Celestia purred. “So shall it be done.”

“My dear husband told me of the traitor Longhaul. He said you had preserved him for a later time. Is it your plan to clone him, just to humiliate him and kill him again, forever reliving that moment?” Raven asked, mania creeping into her voice.

“Oh, we have better plans for our dear Longhaul,” Luna chuckled. Celestia just smiled evilly.

"Now, we take your DNA and combine it with the DNA of a human," says Luna. "If you would each provide a sample, we can begin at once."

Everypony nods, and extracts a single hair follicle from each of their coats. Luna collects them and places them in a bag. “Thank you, all of you,” she says with a smile. “The glory of Equestria will spread throughout the cosmos, with your progeny leading the way. Rest well, we shall let you know when the embryos are ready.”

The group nods, and they trot together toward the various rooms that have been set aside for them.

* * *

“Do you suppose our offspring really will conquer the universe?” Raven asked, as she and Orion entered their room.

Orion nodded. “I believe they will, my dear. And when they have, they will turn their sights upon the humans of Earth and exterminate the lot.”

“Because humans are weak and spineless creatures, waiting to be ruled?” Raven asked again.

“Exactly.” Orion smiled devilishly. “They may be half human, but in their hearts, they will know the superiority of the equine race, and they will act upon it. Then a new empire can begin.” Raven smiled too, and entwined her tail with his. “I look forward to it.”

* * *

The following morning, Raven, Emerald, and Twilight are called down to the castle's hospital wing. Nurse Redheart is there, with four embryos and three tubes all resting on a tray. She smiles at them, "Good morning, ladies," she says. "The work you're doing today is incredibly important, you are ensuring the future of Equestria as we become a spacefaring race, and a full-fledged member of the Terran Empire."

Redheart points a hoof toward the first dish, "This, Lady Raven, is Orion's clone. As requested, his DNA has been combined with that of a human female." Her hoof moves to the second dish, "This one will be yours, and the last two are for Emerald and Twilight." Redheart places her hoof back on the ground. "Our research tells us that human gestation periods are usually a couple months shorter than they are for ponies. But because the fully-formed fetus is so different to what we're used to, these tubes-" She points to them, "have been enchanted with a spell that will change your uteruses to something more typical for humans for the duration of the pregnancy. Are you ready?"

The three mares nod solemnly. "Ready," they say at once.

Redheart nods and summons one of her assistants, a unicorn. "Then we'll begin."

* * *

The following nine months were some of the longest any of the four volunteers had ever experienced, especially for Raven, since she was carrying not just her clone, but Orion's too. The fetuses appeared to be developing normally, but by the end of the eighth month, none of the mares could move very much.

Finally, the due date came. All three mares felt their water break within hours of each other, and all three were rushed to Ponyville General Hospital for delivery. Orion stood beside Raven's bed, and after a tense several hours, the new babies were finally delivered. Raven held two small baby humans in her hooves. One had grey skin that was the same color as Orion's fur and a few tufts of his brown mane. The other had light lavender skin, just like Raven's fur, and a few tufts of her black and dark purple mane.

Orion ran a hoof gently down their bodies, smiling. "They're beautiful," he said quietly. "What do we call them?” Raven asked.

"Raven for yours," Orion said, "And then... Gemini. Yes... Gemini."

"I like it," Raven (the pony) said. “Perfect names for future rulers of the universe.”

* * *

In Canterlot, at the Imperial Hospital, Luna supervised the births of the three siren babies, carried to term by Octavia Melody and her mate, Vinyl Scratch.

“They’re perfect,” Luna gushed. “Be sure to raise them with loyalty to myself and my sister, that their voices may wreak havoc upon the weak humans.”

“We serve the Lunar Empire,” the mares said in unison.

“The zebra mare had difficulty during the birth,” the doctor reported to Celestia, “and expired shortly after delivery.”

“Good,” Celestia snorted. “She was of no use to us anyway. The child will be the ward of myself and Enforcer Luna. We will collect him shortly.” She turned and walked away, her gold-shod hooves echoing with each step.

* * *

A few days after the newly-born humans had been brought home, word came across Orion's desk that a young unicorn filly had recently turned in her parents, Fawkes and Philomena, for daring to speak out against the Solar Empire. The parents were summarily executed, and the filly brought before Orion in one of his chariots.

Orion trots down the main staircase of Shadowfall Manor and into the sitting room, where they yellow-furred unicorn filly with turquoise eyes and a red and yellow mane and tail sat. "So you are Sunset Shimmer, I see," Orion says, inspecting her. "I like a filly who isn't afraid to turn on her own... I did something similar when I was your age." He smiles at the memory. "But unlike your parents, I have always been a loyal supporter of Empress Celestia. Would you like to come and live with me instead?"

Sunset nodded eagerly. “Not only that, sir, but I want to be just like ... her!” She pointed a hoof at Gemini, who was being carried by Raven, who was walking by at that exact moment.

“I don’t quite understand, my dear,” Orion said patiently. “What do you mean, you want to be just like her?”

“I want to be human,” Sunset said plainly. “I want to serve the Solar Empire and spread the fear of the Empresses far and wide, making others bend to our will and serve us as we deem fit! Can you make me a human, sir?” she asked, pleadingly.

"Certainly," Orion says, ruffling the filly's mane with a hoof. "Now, let's see..." He concentrates hard and uses his magic to turn her into a human of roughly the same age as she is right now. A servant comes and wipes his brow with a cloth and gives him a glass of water afterwards. Panting, he asks "Well... what... do you think?"

Sunset looks at her hands, and at her feet, wiggling each of the digits and grinning from ear to ear. “I love it! And I can live with you, too?” she asked with glee.

"Of course you may," Orion says with a smile, giving the cute little girl a hug. "Welcome to the family, Sunset Shimmer."

* * *

Years went by. The eight girls were educated according to Solar Empire schooling standards, and when they discovered their magical powers by murdering the town clockmaker in cold blood for attempting to build mutinous robots who preached love and friendship, were taught offensive and defensive magics. In their teen years, they formed a band and hypnotized all of Equestria with their musical propaganda, led by the siren sisters Adagio, Aria, and Sonata.

But they knew they couldn't remain in Equestria forever. One day, Gem went to her father's study and knocked on the door. "Father? It's Gemini. The girls and I have come to an important decision, and we think you should know about it."

Orion looked up and motioned Gem to enter. “Important decision, eh? Well, come in and tell me about it.” He brought out two glasses and a strange amber liquid, and poured both of them a drink. “It’s a special drink from Sweet Apple Acres. Specially aged. They call it ‘applejack.’ Sip it, don’t gulp it or you’ll be very sorry.” He sipped from his glass, grimaced a bit, and then smiled. “Kicks like a stubborn mule, but it’s worth it. Now then, what’s this decision you’ve come to?”

Gem smiled and poured herself a glass, sipping gently and coughing violently afterwards. Once she had recovered, she continued. "We've decided to join Starfleet," she announced. "After all, we can't very well overthrow the humans from here. What better way to do it than by impaling them on their own proverbial sword?"

Orion smiled. “I had hoped this day would come. My little girl wants to run her very own pirate ship.” He took another sip. “If you all are really sure about this, we will go and see Empress Celestia tomorrow morning to arrange your transportation.”

"I've never been more sure about anything in my life," Gem says, grinning evilly. "Ooh, this is going to be fun!"

* * *

It was decided the next morning that the eight of them would board the Enterprise-E, the successor ship to the one that had attempted to subjugate Equestria so many years before. The Enterprise took them to San Francisco, where they began their studies at Starfleet Academy. Gem was noted for her particular excellence in all forms of weaponry, and even developed several weapons of her own that utilized Equestrian magic.

After four years of study, the girls graduated and were assigned to the ISS Icarus, a Constitution-class battle cruiser. "Welcome aboard, ladies, to the Icarus," said their captain, a man with large green glasses on his face and brown hair and a mustache with a white stripe in both, "My name is Clayton Forrester, and I will be your captain for the duration of your time with us. I hope you will all make yourselves useful. If not, we'll drop you off at the nearest slave world. Do I make myself clear?"

“Perfectly, sir,” Raven said, standing at attention. “What are our orders, sir?” Twilight asked.

Forrester smiles. "You're going to be my bridge crew. Gem will serve as my first officer, Raven will be my second officer, Aria and Sonata will serve as navigator and helm respectively, Adagio will be the security chief, Emerald will be chief of Engineering, and Twilight and Sunset will serve as science officers. Now... report to your stations, all of you, and let's get this show on the road! Or I'll make you watch terrible ancient science fiction films!"

All eight saluted and moved to their duty stations.

“I’m going to kill him,” Gem muttered, “slowly and painfully. And I’m gonna record it on video so I can watch it over and over again.”

“Only if I don’t get to him first,” Raven growled softly. All eight were aware of the possibility of listening devices, and even though Adagio swept the room and found nothing, they were aware that the intercom could always be monitoring. Music played and the girls talked under it, keeping their voices low.

“All I know is,” Twilight said quietly, “if he gropes me and calls me ‘chickie’ one more time, I’m gonna rip off that arm and feed it to him.” She rolls a joint. “Grew it in the hydroponics lab. Anyone want a hit?” The other seven shook their heads. “Cool, more for me.” She conjured a small flame on her finger and lit the joint, taking a deep pull and becoming more blissful by the minute.

Gem narrows her eyes at Raven. "Oh no you don't, sister. He's mine. Lay so much as a finger on him before I have the chance to strike and I'll kill you too. You don't get immunity just because you're family."

“Hey dudettes, relaaaaaaaaaaaaaax ... deal with Captain Douchebag later, like, okay?” Twilight said, her eyes half-lidded and her face wearing a blissed-out grin. “Like, we need to stick together, all for the Solar Empire, you know what I mean, man?”

“Before anyone gets to kill Captain Creep-o, we need to get allies to back us up,” Sunset stated matter-of-factly.

“Any ideas how?” Gem growled.

“Half the science staff wants to get in my pants,” Sunset said sexily, “and maybe I’ll let them .. for a price. That price is their loyalty to you, Gem.”

“Hey, like, I got dudes and dudettes beggin’ for my killer hydro...I can get them on our side fer shure,” Twilight slurred.

Raven sighed, exasperated. “Fine. Gem gets the honor of the kill. I’ll work on subduing the rest of the command staff. Emerald can take over life support in the event anything goes drastically wrong. Adagio can lock down the ship, and Aria and Sonata can take the ship anywhere we want it to go. Sounds like a plan?”

"Excellent." Lacing her fingers together, Gem chuckles evilly. "Let the fun begin, girls."


	2. Through the Mirror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In 2370, Lord Orion Shadow discovers another universe adjacent to their own, one where the Terran Empire does not exist. Instead, a United Federation of Planets rules in its place. Captain Picard, wanting to help restore the fleet to its former glory, sends raiding parties to this other universe, and soon, they make contact with their Federation counterparts. Based on the comic story by Scott and David Tipton.

Much had changed for the Equestrian Solar Empire since it had made first contact with the Terran Empire. They’d entered into an uneasy alliance, as neither side entirely trusted the other, for the same reason: one suspected the other would attempt an invasion and subjugation of the conquered territories. Empress Celestia, of course, was planning exactly that, but she had to bide her time, and keep her cards close to her chest.

For the Terran Empire, the partnership was one of logic than any desire to subjugate the ponies. Equestrian magic was a force that could, if used correctly, stem the Empire’s decline and restore it to its former glory days of a century ago, when Philippa Georgiou had been Emperor.

Empress Celestia bid Lord Orion Shadow, her faithful lieutenant, and his wife to act as overseers aboard the ISS _Enterprise_ , the Terran Empire’s flagship, and ensure that the humans were holding up their end of the bargain. This Orion did, with great gusto. He and Raven were given their own quarters, with plenty of modifications to suit their unique physiology. When he wasn’t on a duty shift, Orion spent long hours pouring over every data PADD he could find, learning all he could about this new culture.

* * *

_“Overseer’s log, Imperial stardate 46736.0, Lord Shadow recording. While interrogating a Bolian smuggler for information, Captain Picard learned an intriguing piece of information: Spock, former emperor of the Terran Empire and widely considered to be responsible for its current decline, is apparently still alive. I have given myself the task of searching for him. After all, in order to fight an enemy, one must know them first.”_

Orion entered Picard’s ready room, wearing his black and dark grey uniform tunic. He saluted, thumping his chest with a hoof and extending his right front leg out. “Come in, Lord Shadow, have a seat. Tell me what you have learned,” said Picard, handing Orion a cup of tea. Orion checked to see if it was poisoned, saw it wasn’t, and sipped.

“I’ve scanned our library computer and the Imperial network for everything I could find about Emperor Spock,” Orion began. “I’ve come to two conclusions. The first is that the historical records about Spock have been tampered with. Data points involving his time as emperor have been deleted or subtly altered, for what purpose I cannot say.”

“And your second conclusion?” Picard asked.

“I can confirm with 90% certainty: Spock is indeed alive,” Orion said.

Picard turned to face him. “But _where_ , Lord Shadow, _where_ is he?”

“I don’t know, sir,” said Orion honestly. “Too many of the records have been deleted or falsified for me to answer that from the _Enterprise_. I will have to look for more information elsewhere. It might help my analysis, Captain, if you would tell me more about why this is so important to you.”

Picard sat down in his chair and sighed. In the months he had known the unicorn, he had begun to grudgingly respect him, and see him as a useful ally rather than a threat. He began to speak. “The Imperial supply chain is on the brink of collapse, Lord Shadow. The Cardassians have destroyed or taken from us several key resource installations and mining colonies. Just last week they conquered Naia IV. What is more, the Klingons have scared away even the most disreputable smugglers from working with us. While your people’s magical expertise has been beneficial, it cannot replace all of what we have lost.”

“Then this Bolian showed up yesterday with a freighter full of supplies: dilithium crystals, isolinear chips, plasma relays… but not a clue of where it might be coming from. If Spock is alive, and he has something to do with the Bolian’s cargo, then we need to find out more. And, if Spock is indeed alive, I can’t have him showing up unexpectedly and interfering with my plans. He’s too dangerous.”

Orion nodded. “If I were to leave the _Enterprise_ and seek out other sources of information, I think I could find the location of Spock,” he said. “Do I have your permission?”

Picard nodded. “Yes. Take the Captain’s Yacht. _Find_ Spock. And if we’re fortunate, perhaps your search will turn up a solution to our supply problem as well.”

Orion drained his tea and rose to leave. “You have my word, Captain, I will not return until I have found what we’re looking for.” He saluted again, then left.

* * *

Orion entered Imperial Alpha, the Terran records keeping facility, and strode right up to the front desk, rearing up to his hind legs and placing his forehooves on the back of the console. “Excuse me,” he began. “My name is Lord Orion Shadow of the ISS _Enterprise_ , I’m looking for all the information you can supply me on the life and times of Emperor Spock.” He put on a warm smile.

“That’s an unusual request,” said the human at the desk. “Not many people ask about that dark period in our history.” She got up and led Orion to a nearby terminal, gesturing to it. “You’ll find out everything we have about what some refer to as “The Republic” here. These files are constantly being updated. Just let me know if you have any questions.”

“Thank you,” Orion replied, climbing into the chair. He browsed through the files on offer. “151,583 records of his ascension… 254,055 of diplomacy… 5 of reforms… none of his death…” Scanning through them however, he found most of the files had been missing or otherwise changed. Annoyed, he climbed back down and returned to the front desk. “Excuse me, miss? These records of Emperor Spock have been altered, and many are missing,” he said, floating the isolinear chip over to her. “Why is this?”

“All records have been aligned with Imperial historical directives,” replied the woman. “There has been a very significant reworking of history for that period.”

“I need to see the original records,” said Orion. “Do you still have them?”

The woman shook her head. “Sorry, sir. The original records have been permanently erased as part of our usual process of historical cleansing. There is nothing more I can do to help you.”

“Then my business here is concluded,” said Orion coldly. “Good day to you.” His horn flared, and he teleported back to the yacht, sighing. “Damned Earthers, cleansing the historical records like that… Archivist Sparkle would have none of this nonsense.” After letting Picard know of his failure, he guided the ship away from the planetoid.

* * *

There were dozens of worlds in Imperial space where information could be had for the right price. The unicorn cut an imposing figure as he stalked the alleyways, a dark coat thrown over his uniform. After several tense negotiations, he found a hooded figure with exactly the chip he needed, and passed over a few stacks of credits in exchange.

Soon, he found himself at Spock’s last recorded location, a nameless forest world. Landing, he found himself attacked by vines, and a tooth-filled mouth opened from the trees above him. Orion quick fired off a few killing spells, and the vines released him, allowing him to continue unencumbered.

Soon he found an old stone building, and as he entered, a few Tellarite guards attempted to apprehend him. Orion dove, dodged, and weaved, firing off spells from his horn as if it were a phaser, and when he couldn’t do that, simply bucked them with his back hooves. He made his way deeper into the cave, and bucked the last of them down a flight of stairs, knocking him out. “Clearly, you are protecting someone,” he said. “Or rather… you _were_.”

He trotted down the steps and found a wooden door, which he bucked open, sending wood splintering and falling to the ground. Going inside, he found himself in a small stone room, with a hooded figure sitting in a corner. “Ah… Emperor Spock, I presume?” he said.

The figure turned to face him, and while Orion could see that the man’s face was old and ravaged by time, with a thick beard and mustache, the slanted eyebrows and pointed ears marked him as none other than the former [emperor](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/b/b1/Spock,_2387.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120513221717&path-prefix=en) of the Terran Empire.

“You have me at a disadvantage,” said the old Vulcan. “Do I know you?”

Orion shook his head. “I am Lord Orion Shadow, stationed aboard the ISS _Enterprise_. We haven’t met, but I have been looking for you.”

“Have you come to kill me?” Spock asked.

“No, sir, I have not,” Orion replied.

Spock nodded, and gestured to a table nearby. “Then sit, let us talk.” Spock lit a lantern and sat down, facing Orion. “I do not receive many visitors. I have worked rigorously to hide myself, and in addition, it is my understanding that the Empire is doing what it can to erase much of me from history. Many who remember those fateful days have either died from the passage of time or at the hands of assassins.”

“You are correct on both accounts,” said Orion. “Many elements of your history, especially your time as Emperor, have been wiped from official records. It took considerable effort for me to find you here.”

“Which leads us to the most important question,” Spock continued. “Why are you looking for me?”

“The _Enterprise_ recently encountered a Bolian smuggler who put us on the trail to find you,” Orion explained. “What he told us raised many questions. Where did he get all of his valuable supplies? And of course, if Emperor Spock is alive, where is he? My captain, Jean-Luc Picard, tasked me with finding you. He thought you might be a valuable resource for supplies and treasure.”

“Fascinating,” said Spock. “Unfortunately, Lord Shadow, I am afraid that I will be a grand disappointment to your greedy captain. You see, I live here in a sort of austere retirement, just me and my guards. What you don’t know, and what has been scrubbed from the Imperial archives, is that my reforms of the Empire were far from being an utter failure. In fact, they were largely successful, at least, from my point of view, and from the point of view of others of like minds. However, my reforms came at just the time when the Cardassians and Klingons decided to join forces and exert themselves.”

“Our reformed republic was strong, but not strong enough to fend off the advances of their combined forces. My motivations and changes to the Empire were all, I would argue, the right ones to make, but my timing was unfortunately wrong.”

“Indeed,” Orion agreed. “The Terran Empire has been confined to Earth alone. It is only due to the influence and assistance of my race, the Equestrians of Equus, that the Empire has managed to recapture its own solar system from the Klingon-Cardassian forces. What is more, what you say is very much at odds with history as the Empire chooses to portray it today.”

Spock nodded. “The Empire needed a scapegoat, and conveniently, they chose me.”

“This helps me understand the gaps in the historical records that I’ve found, but there is something else… how did you manage, against all odds, to move from First Officer of the _Enterprise_ to ruler of the Empire?”

“This is a story you will not readily find in any historical records, Lord Shadow,” Spock answered. “It is known largely to me. You see, while I was First Officer of the _Enterprise_ , we accidentally discovered an alternate, parallel universe: one that seemed like a mirror of our own. I met their captain and some of their crew. Before he returned to his own universe, their captain persuaded me that I should take the initiative and ‘make a difference,’ as he put it. He encouraged me to form the Empire along the lines that I had always wanted, and he gave me a tool to help achieve those goals.”

“For a while, I succeeded, beyond even my best expectations. Conquest of the galaxy under my rule as Emperor seemed possible. But when the Cardassians and Klingons went to war against us, and then my internal enemies joined forces against me, I knew my days as Emperor were numbered. I slipped away quietly, to avoid even more bloodshed, and I then came here, to my remote sanctuary. And here I have remained ever since. I have no more ambition for conquest, I was a fool to even consider it.”

“And yet, this alternate universe you describe,” said Orion, rising to his hooves. “It must still exist. The potential for its riches, its material, it is endless. Surely you retained all the information from when you sent the alternate doubles back to their own universe.”

“You proceed from a false assumption,” said Spock. “Let me tell you why that universe and its denizens would be of little use—”

But Orion interrupted him, using his magic to levitate Spock in midair, pinning him to the wall. “Listen well, you green-blooded hobgoblin,” he snarled, snorting contemptuously and stomping a hoof. “You will tell me where the files are! Your legendary logic would not have allowed you to destroy them! I will give you one chance: either give me those files, or die. Either way, I will have what I want.”

“Guards!” shouted Spock. “I require your assistance!” And a second group of Tellarites swarmed into the room, holding weapons.

“PUT THE EMPEROR DOWN, YOU SCUM!” shouted the leader. “YOU HEAR ME? PUT HIM DOWN!”

Orion smiled coldly, turning to the Tellarite. “Oh, I’ll put him down,” he said, and threw Spock through the door and into the hallway with all the force he could muster. There was a sickening crunch as the old Vulcan landed, but he still lived. Orion loomed over him, a murderous grin on his face. “Will you tell me now, Mr. Spock?” he asked.

“…No…” Spock whispered. It was the last thing he ever said, as Orion slit his throat with the tip of his horn. Ten minutes later, Spock’s body was joined with those of his guards. Five minutes after that, Orion trotted out of the old building, three isolinear chips poking out through a pocket of his saddlebags, his uniform and some of his fur covered in red and green bloodstains.

Returning to the ship, he contacted the _Enterprise_. “ _Coronado_ to _Enterprise_ , _Coronado_ to _Enterprise_ , Lord Shadow reporting.”

“This is Captain Picard, Lord Shadow. Report.”

“I have succeeded in locating the target, Captain, and secured information that could prove to be of value.”

“Excellent work,” said Picard. “I’ll expect a full debriefing upon your return. I certainly hope all this proves worth the time and expense, Lord Shadow.”

“I have complete confidence it was a wise expenditure of our resources, sir,” Orion replied. “If I can unlock the secrets held here, we may soon have access to uncounted worlds ripe for plunder. _Coronado_ out.”

* * *

_“Overseer’s log, Imperial stardate 47235.2. After several months of work, Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge and myself have completed our first prototype of a new kind of transporter. In the 2270s, during the early years of his reign, the late Emperor Spock had the transporters on all Terran ships modified to prevent any crossovers with the universe he accidentally discovered in October 2267. La Forge and I tried to work around those safeguards, but it was too dangerous, we lost many personnel to the vacuum of space. Instead, we devised a separate solution.”_

_“What we have come up with works along the same principle as a transporter, but in a much smaller package, taking the form of a ring. After setting the destination via a computer terminal or by the ring’s own interface, it automatically locks onto a viable transporter pad, and transports the wearer to the specified location. The dimensional shift component is achieved using a variation on the spells Starswirl the Bearded used when creating his dimensional mirrors for Empress Celestia.”_

_“While it could be possible to beam someone down without locking on to a transporter pad first, that would require time that we simply do not have, so this will have to do for now. After several months of small scouting missions to gather information and supplies, today will be our first big mission, where we will be traveling to the Federation mining colony of Naia IV.”_

Orion stepped into Engineering, where he was greeted by La Forge, Riker, and another man, a blonde-haired Terran named Lieutenant Jones. All three wore Federation Starfleet uniforms rather than their normal Imperial ones. “Glad you could make it, Lord Shadow,” said La Forge. “Are you ready for today’s mission?”

“I’ve been looking forward to it, Commander,” said Orion. “As for you, Lieutenant?”

“It’s an honor to join you both, Commander, Lord Shadow,” Jones replied.

Orion nodded approvingly. “Excellent. Since this is your first mission, I’ll have to warn you: do _not_ , under any circumstances, let yourself get seen by anyone who might know your counterpart. If you compromise this mission, Captain Picard has given me free reign to either kill you or put you in the agony booth for a while. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Lord Shadow,” said Jones. “I will not fail you.”

“You’d best not,” said Orion. He floated three rings over, placed one on his horn, and gave three more to Riker, La Forge and Jones. “Synchronize your rings, gentlemen. We’ll be traveling to the Federation outpost of Naia IV today.” There was a pause as they set their destinations using the rings’ miniature LCARS display. “Ready?”

“Ready,” said Riker, La Forge, and Jones in unison.

“Energize,” said Orion, and they pressed small buttons on their rings, dematerializing seconds later.

* * *

_“Ambassador’s log, stardate 47235.2, Orion Shadow recording. Lieutenant Commander Worf has requested our presence on an away mission to the water world of Naia IV, an important supply station for the Federation since the Battle of Wolf 359.”_

The away team, consisting of Worf, Orion, and Raven beamed down to the dock of the mining facility. Surrounding them was water, water, and still more water, as far as the eye could see.

“Quite a view,” observed Orion. “And smell that salty sea air, Raven! Isn’t it nice?”

“It is,” Raven agreed, turning to Worf. “You said you have been here on Naia IV before, Commander?”

Worf nodded. “Yes. The mining facility here needed some assistance from the _Enterprise_ two years ago. This follow-up inspection is to check on their security. I don’t anticipate any problems, but keep your eyes open. This is a high-value operation for the Federation and they have had problems in the past. That’s why we’re here.”

“Understood, Commander,” Orion replied.

Two humans, a male with dark, close-cropped hair and a woman with long brown hair and glasses approached the trio. “Commander Worf!” called the man.

“Captain Ochoa,” said Worf.

“It’s good to see you again, Commander!” added the woman.

“And you too, Lieutenant Amato,” Worf continued. “Captain Picard sends his regards. These are Ambassadors Orion and Raven Shadow, they’re here to help me conduct the inspection.” Both ponies waved a front hoof each in greeting.

“Let’s get inside for a quick look around,” said Ochoa, leading the way inside. “We’ll try to make this go as quickly as possible for you.” As they entered the main lift, Ochoa asked, “Commander, just to confirm, your team members have security clearance for background to our mission here?”

Worf nodded. “Yes. You can tell them anything we need to know.”

Ochoa nodded, and stepped off the lift. They’d arrived in a large room filled with computer screens and chairs. “Very well. As you know, our facility here is one of Starfleet’s most valuable resources for minerals and elements. Dilithium, bilitrum, kelbonite, and more are all here in great supply. After the Borg destroyed much of the fleet at Wolf 359, this facility has been an essential supply station for the rebuilding effort. We’ve been pressed hard here, so hard that at times, we’ve had trouble keeping up. But more recently, I’ve been noticing something new that concerns me. Some of our equipment has disappeared. And some of the material we process has been vanishing too. Three full crates of dilithium, for example, have gone missing since just yesterday.”

“Why didn’t your earlier report include these details?” Worf asked.

“At first, it seemed like a simple bookkeeping problem,” Ochoa said. “But it grew more serious, so I started looking forward to your inspection. And also: I was worried our communications might have been compromised.”

“Does anyone else know about your suspicions?” Worf asked.

“Only my most trusted officer, Lt. Amato,” replied Ochoa. “And I intentionally brought us to this secured room to have this conversation.”

Worf nodded approvingly. “Good work, Captain.” He turned to the two ponies. “Ambassadors, we need to conduct a discreet reconnaissance of this entire facility. The captain’s discretion will make our task easier. Fan out and look around everywhere for anything suspicious. Unless something else develops, we’ll gather back here in an hour and report our findings.”

“Aye sir,” Raven saluted. The three went their separate ways, exploring every nook and cranny of the facility. Worf saw a blond-haired man with a goatee pass by, wearing a dour expression. He frowned, but said nothing about it until he met back up with Orion and Raven. “Report,” he thundered.

“Sorry Commander, I didn’t catch anything that seemed out of the ordinary,” said Raven at once. “Did you, Orion?”

“Nothing physical,” Orion replied. “I did, however, notice something fishy on my tricorder…” He held it up with magic. “You’re all f amiliar with quantum signatures, yes?”

“I’m not,” Raven admitted. “What’s a quantum signature?”

“A quantum signature is the unique signature with which all matter in the universe resonates,” Orion answered. “You, I, Mr. Worf, and everyone here, even the building itself, has a specific signature. It can be masked, but not changed completely. And someone in this building has a different quantum signature to everyone else.” He looked up at Worf. “Did you see anything unusual, Commander?”

“I might have,” Worf replied. “Do either of you know Lieutenant Jones from Engineering?”

Orion nodded. “I know him. Why do you ask?”

“Does he have a beard? A goatee?” Worf continued.

Orion shook his head. “Unless he’s gotten lazy in his grooming habits, I don’t think so. The last time I saw him, he was clean-shaven.”

“I could have sworn I just saw him in a corridor here. With a _beard,_ ” Worf growled.

“Interesting…” Orion tapped his chin with a hoof. “Are you sure it was him, sir?”

“He certainly _looked_ like him,” said Worf thoughtfully.

“Do you know where he was headed, Commander?” Raven asked.

“He was just down this corridor,” said Worf. “I’ll retrace my steps and try to locate him. While I do that, you two check in with Captain Ochoa and let him know where things stand.” The two ponies nodded, and Worf left.

“So, any theories?” Raven asked, as she and Orion trotted down the hall in the opposite direction, their hooves making metallic clopping sounds on the floor. “How can one person be in two places at once?”

“It’s either a changeling, which is impossible since we haven’t been anywhere near the Zacherele system since we got here, or…” Orion spoke softly. “He’s not _our_ Lieutenant Jones. You know that mirror Princess Twilight has in her castle library?”

Raven nodded. “The one that leads to a world full of humans that kind of look like ponies? Yes.”

“I’m thinking the other Jones must be from a similar world,” Orion said. “I’ll have to do some research tonight. I won’t want to tell Captain Picard this until I know _for certain_ what’s going on.”

* * *

Worf found his quarry quite quickly, especially since he now knew what to look for. He followed Jones into a dimly lit, cavernous storage room, and called out, “Lieutenant Jones, is that you?” There was no answer. “Jones! Answer me!”

And Jones did answer, though not in the way Worf expected. Jones drew his phaser, and with a “BRRRVRRT” noise and a flash of red light, shot right at Worf. Worf dove to the floor, the beam missing him by inches. He tapped his badge twice. “Shadows, I need your help in the computer lab, I’m under fire.”

Orion’s reply was prompt: _“On our way, Mr. Worf.”_

The firefight continued, with Jones firing and Worf evading. Then, all of a sudden, a bolt of light that almost hit Worf in the chest was deflected by the sudden appearance of a blue shield. Orion had arrived, Raven beside him, silhouetted in the light of the room’s open door. “Jones! What are you doing?! How did you even get here?!” Orion asked from the doorway.

Jones didn’t answer, for from his own badge came a voice: “Jones! Where are you?! Report!”

“I got recognized somehow, Commander,” replied Jones. “It’s a Klingon and two ponies, they’ve got me pinned down!”

“Well, unpin yourself, Lieutenant!” replied the commander. “We need those components!”

Jones drew his phaser. “Aye aye, sir,” he said, firing a shot at Orion. Worf and Orion returned fire at the same instant, and their beams struck true, singing Jones’ uniform and damaging his skin. Jones didn’t care, he simply grabbed a canister and held it in his arm, using his other hand to fire a shot at the door control. It shattered, and as the door dropped down, he dropped to the floor and rolled under it, vanishing from sight as it closed.

Worf and Orion tried to raise the door, but it was no use. They turned around, running through another door and out into the hall beyond, where they were met by Ochoa and Amato. “What’s going on?!” Ochoa asked in a rush.

“You have an intruder, Captain,” Worf growled. “I recognized a technician who should not be here; he is currently stationed aboard the _Enterprise_! I followed him, intending to investigate, but before I could question him, he fired on me. The only place he could be heading in this wing of the complex is your transporter room.” They ran into an arboretum, and chased Jones down, Orion and Raven in the lead.

Orion fired a few magical bolts from his horn, and Raven dove at him, only for Jones to turn around and shoot Raven in the face with a blast from his phaser. The earth pony fell to the ground, stunned. Shocked, Orion lifted her into the air and onto his back, continuing the chase. Jones, followed by two other male figures whose faces they could not see, ran through a pair of sliding doors and onto a transporter pad. Worf, Orion, Ochoa, and Amato followed.

What they saw surprised them: Jones, flanked by three others, specifically a second Orion, who had a goatee and a scar running down one side of his face, a scarred Commander Riker with a poorly-kept beard, and another La Forge, who was bald, had a goatee, and whose VISOR looked more like a pair of goggles than an air filter. They disappeared, shimmering out of view.

“Well then…” muttered Orion. “I suppose my theory was correct after all.”

* * *

_“Ambassador’s log, supplemental. We have returned to the Enterprise following a strange sighting on the Naia IV mining colony. While Commander Worf interrogates Lieutenant Jones, I am taking it upon myself to look up some information.”_

Orion sat in his and Raven’s [quarters](http://bit.ly/2wANMHU), a PADD held aloft in his magic. Since it was the end of his duty shift, he changed out of his uniform, (today, the yellow and black operations tunic) and wore only his bowtie. Raven came in and flopped down on the couch by the window, where her husband was. Orion looked up and smiled. “Ah, you’re back! How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” Raven said, kissing his cheek gently. “Luckily, Lieutenant Jones’ phaser was set to stun rather than kill… Dr. Crusher has become very good at dealing with our physiology.”

Orion chuckled. “Considering it’s usually you that winds up there, I can’t say I’m surprised, my love.”

“Oh hush,” Raven teased, trotting over to the replicator. As this room was designed for their use exclusively, the furniture had all been modified to suit their needs as quadrupedal equines, and the same was true of the replicators, which were modified to generate Equestrian dishes as well as Earth-based ones. “Two daffodil and daisy sandwiches with hay fries,” she said, and as if by magic (though both ponies knew better), two plates with the requested items appeared. Raven took them, and carried them over to the dining table. “Sweetheart, put that PADD down and come eat this meal I spent all day preparing!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” says Orion fondly, nuzzling Raven’s cheek. “I’m glad you came when you did, or else I would’ve forgotten to eat. Again.”

“I know,” said Raven, still smiling. “What were you reading, anyway?”

“Just some data files on alternative universes,” Orion said, in between bites of his sandwich. “Starfleet records don’t have very many accounts, but I know of one.”

“Wouldn’t those be top secret?” Raven asked.

“You’d think,” Orion replied. “But luckily, the files I looked at were declassified fairly recently.” He took a sip of tea. “There exists, on a plane of reality that runs parallel to this one, a universe where there is no such thing as a United Federation of Planets. Instead, there is a Terran Empire.”

“Sounds rather ominous,” Raven observed. “Has Starfleet been in contact with this ‘Terran Empire’ before?”

“Only twice, about a decade apart on both occasions. The first chronological crossing occurred in 2257, when the USS _Discovery_ wound up there when their spore drive malfunctioned. The second crossing happened ten years later, when an away team led by James T. Kirk was interchanged with their Terran Empire counterparts courtesy of an ion storm.”

“Sounds like your comparison to Princess Twilight’s mirror was apt,” Raven commented. “But how does this relate to Jones?”

“I’m getting to that,” Orion said. “Captain Kirk’s mission reports from his encounter describe the… well, ‘mirror’ Spock as sporting a goatee and beard, much like our friend Lieutenant Jones today. Then there’s the fact that his quantum signature was different. Put all of that together, and…”

“You think the Lieutenant Jones we saw today is from this mirror universe,” Raven finished.

Orion nodded. “And so too are his friends Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge and… well, me.”

Raven’s jaw dropped. “No way, you saw them too?!”

“After you fainted,” Orion clarified. “They beamed away before we could get to them.”

“Whoa…” Raven put her sandwich down, awed. “What do we do now? Are you going to talk to Captain Picard about this?”

“Soon,” said Orion. “I need incontrovertible proof, and eyewitness accounts can only count for so much.” He sighed. “I don’t think this is over, Raven… not by a long shot.”

* * *

_“Ambassador’s log, stardate 47236.9, Orion Shadow recording. I have joined an away team to assist in the investigation of the happenings aboard an inert Andorian ship. According to the distress call the Enterprise received, the ship was invaded and sustained heavy casualties.”_

Four figures, three of them humanoid and one equinoid, beamed down onto the Andorian vessel. The situation was grim. Dents in the walls showed evidence of phaser fire, and the room was littered with corpses and bloodstains. “Doctor, is there anything you can do?” Riker asked.

Dr. Crusher ran to the body nearest her, and scanned it with her tricoder. “No, they were killed instantly. Whoever did this stepped out of the transporter and started firing.”

La Forge bent down and peered at the burn marks in the walls. “Orion, look at these burn marks… these phasers were cranked up to nearly full power.”

“Indeed,” Orion agreed. “As powerful and vicious an attack as possible without breaching the hull.” The quartet ventured further into the ship’s bowels, where they were met with identical scenes: burn marks, blood, and corpses.

“This is a slaughterhouse…” groaned Crusher. “What could they have done to deserve this?”

“Whoever was here, one thing’s for certain… they didn’t want any witnesses,” said Riker grimly.

Orion around the room, at anything else other than the bodies, when he noticed something. He cantered over to the nearest wall and reared up onto his back legs to get a better look. “Commander Riker, come take a look at this! Specific system coordinators and junction blockers have been pulled out, and specific lengths of metallic armor plating are missing… almost as if…”

“As if the ship is being stripped for parts,” finished La Forge. “The intruders who came here took everything of value. Well spotted, Orion.”

“Then there was yesterday, at Naia IV,” Orion continued. “The other Jones stole a few things from one of the supply rooms. These two events _must_ be connected in some way, but how?”

Before he could go on, a very angry looking Andorian dove at the first person he could reach, which turned out to be Riker. “MURDERERS!” he yelled, tackling Riker to the floor and holding a sharp blade toward the man’s throat. “DIE FOR YOUR CRIMES, PINK-SKIN!”

“That’s quite enough of that!” Orion lit his horn and threw the Andorian into the nearest wall, then grabbed his weapon with his telekinesis. “Sir, we aren’t here to harm you, we come in peace,” he said, his voice calm. “Please refrain from further violence. We’re from the _Enterprise_ , we received your distress call. Could you tell us who attacked you?”

While Crusher and La Forge helped the Andorian to his feet, he spoke: “They looked very much like you… but their uniforms were different somehow. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Different?” Orion tapped his chin. “Hmm…”

The Andorian approached Riker. “I am Lieutenant Commander Throllob of the Andorian battle cruiser Shashpar. Please forgive my confusion.”

“I understand,” Riker replied. “I am Commander Riker of the Enterprise. What happened here?”

Throllob gulped and began to explain, straightening his antennae as he did so. “We received an urgent distress call from what identified itself as a Starfleet shuttlecraft. Observing protocol, we immediately abandoned our established flight plan and set course to intercept and render assistance.”

“We approached what appeared to be a standard Starfleet shuttlecraft suffering from warp drive failure, but just as we hailed them to arrange repairs, another shuttle approached at high warp and attacked. Several of the second vessel’s crew, all well-armed, beamed here and struck us without warning. Between the surprise attack and multiple enemy boarders, we were caught almost completely off guard. We lost most of our crew to damage from their blasts or their backstabbing raiding parties. They stripped our ship of everything they could get their hands on, then left.”

“I came certainly confirm that part, Commander,” said La Forge. “Whoever they were, they were gutting this ship of everything valuable. I’m seeing systems failing all over the Shashpar. If we could get to the bridge, I could get a better handle on what we’re dealing with here.”

“I can take you there,” said Throllob. “I need to discover what happened to our commander. Let’s go.” And off they went.

The bridge was the same mess as the rest of the ship. Surveying the carnage, La Forge asked quietly, “Who would do such a thing, Commander?”

“I don’t know, Geordi,” Riker replied.

“I have an idea or two, Commander,” said Orion.

“And I don’t have time for theories just now, Ambassador,” Riker said firmly. “Mr. La Forge, how’s that diagnostic going?”

“Well, we’ve got a warp core breach,” said La Forge, as red lights came on. “It’s a cascade failure; it just started.”

“Can you delay it?” Riker asked.

“We can eject the warp core, and I can cast a temporary stasis spell on it,” Orion said. “That should buy us…” He checked his watch. “About twenty minutes, if Geordi and I get down to Engineering now.”

Riker nodded. “All right, that should give us enough time to secure any other survivors and get the security records. I want to know who did this!”

“We’ll find out, sir,” said La Forge. “Come on, Orion.” And they ran as fast as they could toward Engineering. The room was hot, and the core was glowing ominously. “No radiation, but there’s definitely a coolant leak!” said La Forge.

“Ejection sequence initiated, sir,” Orion reported. “Readying stasis spell!” His horn began to glow again. La Forge slammed his fist down on the red button in front of him, and with a whooshing noise, the core was ejected. A split second later, a blue beam of magic hit it and surrounded it in a matching spherical shield. The leak had been frozen in an instant of time, it would hold for now.

“Nice shooting, Orion,” said La Forge, as they made their way back to the bridge.

Orion smiled. “Timing is everything, sir. It’s how I earned my cutie mark.”

* * *

With the away team and three survivors beamed away, the _Enterprise_ warped off, and seconds later, Orion’s stasis spell expired and the Andorian warp core exploded. Picard and Riker met in the former’s ready room, talking. “I prefer not cutting things quite so close to a matter/antimatter explosion, Number One,” Picard said.

Riker nodded. “No argument there, Captain. That’s never really been my preferred outcome either.”

Picard nodded. “I did realize that you wouldn’t have stuck it out unless you thought were you onto something important. Let’s see if all your efforts and risks have paid off.” He turned to a monitor. “Computer, play through the security recordings recovered from the Shashpar.”

The monitor’s image changed to grainy security footage of what looked like an empty hallway, at least until two men, a Riker with a scar down one side of his face and a bearded Picard, both clad in black and red uniforms, walked into view. The Picard and Riker on the _Enterprise_ looked on in shock.

“Impossible…” whispered Riker. “Did we really just see ourselves?”

“It appears so, Number One,” Picard answered. “You mentioned Ambassador Shadow said he had a few ideas as to who our culprit might be, yes?”

Riker nodded. “I’ll call him here so he can explain things.”

* * *

Orion stood in Picard’s ready room, and faced his superior officers with the air of a college professor about to begin a lecture. “Gentlemen, to begin with, I assume you are both familiar with the events of October 2267, in which Captain James T. Kirk and three others accidentally found themselves in a parallel dimension to our own,” he said.

Picard nodded. “I’ve read those reports, yes. Go on, Mr. Shadow.”

Orion continued, pacing back and forth as he spoke. “The dimension they traveled to was one in which the United Federation of Planets did not exist, instead, a cruel Terran Empire ruled in its place. Lieutenant Commander Throllob’s testimony, corroborated by the video footage of your counterparts scavenging raw materials, on top of what I witnessed during the Naia IV mission, all point to the same thing: your counterparts, Lieutenant Jones’ counterpart, and those of Mr. La Forge’s and myself, all must be from the same place. Specifically, the very universe once visited by James T. Kirk.”

“An excellent deduction, Mr. Shadow,” Picard said.

“But how did they get here?” Riker asked. “There haven’t been any ion storms in the last few days.”

“I have another theory,” Orion said. “In order to pass through between universes at will, they would need a gateway, perhaps something akin to the magic mirrors created by one of my world’s greatest mages, Starswirl the Bearded. One of his mirrors leads to a version of Equestria populated by humans, much like yourselves, though appearance-wise, they are more akin to ponies, such as Raven and myself.” He used magic to show them a [projection](http://bit.ly/2rAHmmY) of these other humans.

Riker blinked. “I see.”

Orion nodded, dismissing the projection. “That mirror currently resides in Princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle, and she has used it on a number of occasions to deal with the magical creatures Starswirl banished to that world prior to his disappearance. Usually, it can only be opened every thirty moons, but when the sirens attacked the Equestrian human world, she quickly built a device that would let her pass through the portal at will, as long as she had a magical artifact attached to it, in this case, the journal that allows her to communicate with one of that world’s denizens, a former student of Princess Celestia.”

He sighed. “Though I can’t say for certain just yet, it is reasonable to assume that your mirror counterparts must have some form of technology that works on the same premise as Starswirl’s mirror. And their Empire must be falling apart, for why else would they be crossing over to our universe and stealing things?”

Picard nodded. “You raise many good points, Mr. Shadow. I’ll be sure to pass them on to my superiors at Starfleet Command, and I believe it would be wise if you and Mrs. Shadow informed Princess Celestia of this as well. Dismissed.”

Orion bowed his head. “Thank you, sir. Goodnight.” He left.

As the door slid closed behind him, Picard chuckled. “You know, Number One, sometimes I think Mr. Shadow is not unlike Sherlock Holmes.”

“If Sherlock Holmes had four legs and looked like a child’s drawing of a pony, anyway,” said Riker dryly.

* * *

Orion and Raven sat together in their quarters, talking to Princess Celestia via a view screen. “…And that’s the situation at the moment, Your Majesty,” Raven says, having just given the sun princess a quick recap of recent events, and Orion’s deductions concerning the doubles’ true identities.

“Your reports are very concerning, Lady Raven,” Celestia said. “If the other universe is as similar to ours as you say, it is just possible they have allied with our counterparts, if there are any.”

“What do you suggest we do next, ma’am?” Orion asked.

Celestia thought this over. “At the very least, keep an eye on the situation as it develops. You have my leave to intervene in any way you see fit, and I am sure Captain Picard will agree. I know you work best when allowed to problem-solve in your own fashion.”

Orion blushed. “We’ll do our best, ma’am. _Enterprise_ out.” The screen went dark.

* * *

_“Captain’s log, stardate 47239.1. Ambassador Shadow’s reports of infiltrators from an alternative universe are deeply worrying. If his theories are correct, and they have been stealing from our universe for their own purposes, I feel that could entail grave things indeed. As such, I will be entrusting him, and his wife, with bringing this crisis to an end.”_

He pressed a button beside the door to the Equestrians’ quarters, and the door chime rang out. Then he heard Orion say, “Come in!”

The door slid open, and Picard entered. “Good morning, Captain Picard,” said Raven politely, looking up from her breakfast. “What brings you here this early in the morning?”

“It concerns the recent experiences with our inter-dimensional duplicates,” Picard answered. “How did your conversation with Princess Celestia go?”

“As well as can be expected, given the seriousness of the situation at hoof,” Orion replied. “She has given us her permission to tackle the problem as we see fit, operating on the assumption that you would have no objections.”

“And I do not,” Picard confirmed. “In fact, I believe both of you are precisely the people I would want to solve this issue. With that in mind, I am asking you to take alpha shift this morning.”

“We’d be more than happy to, sir,” said Raven. “What time does alpha shift begin?”

“In ten minutes,” Picard said, glancing up to a chronometer on the wall. “I look forward to seeing you both down there.” With a sharp nod, he left.

* * *

In the briefing room of the ISS _Enterprise_ , Captain Picard held court. Surrounding him was Commander Riker, Lord and Lady Shadow, Inquisitor Deanna Troi, and Lieutenant Commander La Forge. “As you all know, our raiding parties into the alternative universe have met with great success,” he said. “Thanks to Lord Shadow and Mr. La Forge on their new dimensional transporter technology,” he indicated the black ring he wore on one finger, “we’ve seized a vast array of plunder, ranging from natural resources to very valuable computer and engine components.” He turned to Riker. “Nice work in particular with that Andorian ship heist, Number One. Our task force stripped the ship nearly down to the bulkhead.”

“It was easy pickings, Captain,” Riker replied.

“Just a short while ago, I was worried how we were going to keep this ship going,” Picard continued. “The Imperial supply system was nearly depleted, and the Klingon/Cardassian blockade on the Empire had us in a stranglehold. But now we are so stocked with provisions that we’ve been able to help out other ships in the fleet, generating great profits for us and putting others in our debt. We’ve generated a wide variety of favors and debts across the Imperial fleet and bureaucracy that we can call in at any time of our choosing. That’s all good.” He smiled. “But now, it’s time for the next step. We want to pursue a _bigger_ target, the first of many more to come.”

Picard looked across the table at Lord Shadow, who sat on top of a pile of cushions with his forehooves folded in front of him, and his back legs dangling in the air below the table. “Lord and Lady Shadow have been working on a plan to infiltrate the alternate _Enterprise_ and lure it to a destination of our choosing. Number One?”

Riker spoke next. “Commander La Forge has been preparing our two guests with background information on the alternative _Enterprise_ and its crew. He’s created a holosimulation in our war room to help them practice for their mission. How’s that all been going, La Forge?”

“Some of our information might be a tiny bit dated, Commander, but I’m confident it will be good enough,” said La Forge.

“Captain, we just finished another round of simulations,” added Lady Raven. “I think we’re ready to go.”

“Agreed,” said Orion. “I’m ready to put the falsified message into their comms system. I’m confident that they’ll accept it as a real communiqué and head to the indicated coordinates.”

Picard smiled. “Ready so soon? Excellent! There’s no time like the present, I like to say. Lord and Lady Shadow, prepare for immediate departure to the alternative universe. Commander Riker, please stick around for a bit to help me plan our next steps. Everyone else, dismissed for now. We’ll have another update for you very soon.”

* * *

Minutes later, the two Equestrians entered main engineering, now wearing their dimensional rings and the [operations](http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/gallery/stmagazine/uniforms2364-1.jpg) and [sciences](http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/gallery/stmagazine/uniforms2364-2.jpg) uniforms of 2364. Orion turned to Raven. “We’ll be down there for about half an hour. Try to stay inconspicuous, and when your part of the task is complete, meet me near Engineering. And whatever you do, _avoid_ being seen by our goody-four-hooves counterparts. Speak to no one. Are you ready?”

“Ready,” said Raven, already putting in the destination settings on her ring. “Energize,” she said, and the two of them disappeared, materializing moments later in the empty transporter room of the USS _Enterprise._ They hurried off, trotting in separate directions.

Orion quickly found a turbolift and headed inside. The doors began to slide close until a pair of nondescript human junior grade lieutenants in red held the doors open and stepped inside. One of them saw Orion and smirked. “What’s up with the uniform, Shadow?” he asked. “Did you forget what year it is?”

“That design was phased out years ago!” said the other one. “Long before you and your little herd of hay-munchers met up with us! And hey, what’s with the beard? I didn’t know horses could grow beards!”

“That is of no concern of yours, gentlemen,” Orion spat, slamming the two of them against the wall of the turbolift with magic. “Talk like that to me again and I’ll have you killed. Do I make myself clear?”

“Uh… yeah!” said the first one. “We’re good! Sorry, Mr. Shadow!”

“That’s _Lord_ Shadow to you, impertinent poltroon,” Orion growled, stepping out of the turbolift as the door opened. “Damned humans… I look forward to the day Empress Celestia crushes their pathetic little empire…” he muttered. Once in communications control, he knocked out the human on duty and swapped one of the isolinear chips on the display wall with the one containing the fake priority one message, then hurried off to meet up with Raven.

* * *

On the bridge, the other Orion and Raven (that is, their Federation counterparts) were seated in the ops and navigation chairs respectively. Orion frowned some as a message came across his console. “Captain, we’ve received a priority one message from Admiral Paris.”

Picard looked up from his PADD, frowning. “That’s odd. Go ahead and play it, Mr. Shadow.”

Orion pressed a button, and Admiral Paris’ [face](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/File:Owen_Paris.jpg) appeared on the main view screen. “Enterprise, we’ve received word of a system failure and communications blackout at the Martorelles Array,” he said. “The Martorelles array is one of our most important listening posts, and Starfleet is concerned this might be a prelude to some sort of attack. You are hereby ordered to head immediately at best speed to the Martorelles array to find out what’s gone wrong. Report back upon arrival with an update as soon as possible. Good luck.” The screen went dark.

Picard tugged on the hem of his shirt. “Set course for Martorelles right away, Ms. Shadow,” he ordered. “Go to warp 8 when ready.”

“Aye sir,” said Raven, turning to her controls.

Picard looked to Orion. “Mr. Shadow, see what you can do about confirming that order, and summon Commanders Riker and Data to the bridge.”

Orion nodded. “Right away, sir.” Picard left.

As the ship jumped to warp, Raven turned to Orion. “Looks to me like the timing of this trip is a little convenient, wouldn’t you say?”

“I think you’re right, my love,” agreed Orion. “Someone must be messing about with things that they aren’t supposed to. Or perhaps… _somepony_.”

* * *

The _Enterprise_ floated above the Martorelles array, while on the bridge, Raven spoke. “Captain, I have no response from the array. Admiral Paris’ message did mention a systems failure and that communications were out.”

“Any idea of the cause?” Picard asked.

“That’s just the problem, sir,” said Raven. “I’ve tried scanning the array and its control center, but the array itself is being used to jam all sensor scans. I’ve also been trying to confirm Admiral Paris’ message, but the array is currently jamming all subspace communications in this sector. I can’t raise Starfleet or any other ships. Could it be part of the same malfunction?”

“The Martorelles array is a high-powered deep space listening post,” said Picard. “It would jam transmissions quite effectively if modified to do so. But who would do this, and why?”

“There’s something else, Captain,” Raven continued. “I’ve finished scanning the recent Starfleet duty rosters you sent me, and Admiral Paris’ last known location was nowhere near the place of origination encoded on the message we received. The coordinates were out of date, and weren’t matching up with the stardate checksum. Which can only mean…”

“The transmission was a fake,” finished Picard. “We’ve been lured here. But by whom?”

“Let’s find out,” said Orion, tapping rapidly at his console. “According to this, sir, there are _four_ Equestrian lifeforms aboard this ship. And that ought to be impossible, we haven’t been anywhere near the Zacherele system in months. Computer, please locate Ambassador Raven Shadow!”

“Raven Shadow is aboard the bridge. Raven Shadow is adjacent to access panel J9 in Engineering,” said the computer.

“But there can’t be two of me here!” Raven exclaimed. “Unless…”

“Unless it’s our other selves,” finished Orion. “Captain, request permission to investigate.”

“Granted,” said Picard at once, and the two ponies climbed off their chairs, as two other bridge officers replaced them. Orion and Raven hurried off to the turbolift and disappeared.

* * *

Mirror Raven crept to an empty access panel in Engineering, and slid a red isolinear chip into a slot. The screen came to life, saying things like: “ANTIMATTER RADIATION LEAK SIMULATION,” and “SUPPRESS ALL WARNINGS THAT THIS IS A DRILL,” and “SIMULATION IN 60 MINUTES?” She tapped yes, smirking evilly, just as Mirror Orion arrived.

Mirror Raven looked to him, annoyed. “Where have you been?! You were supposed to be here a while ago!” she whispered fiercely.

“I was _trying_ to get here without too many people asking me questions,” Mirror Orion whispered back. “La Forge didn’t exactly get these uniforms right, you know. In any case, I have completed my assignment, the fake subspace message was introduced into the _Enterprise_ communication system, and the ship has arrived at the array. What about you?”

“I just finished,” hissed Mirror Raven. “In less than an hour from now, they’re all going to think the ship is about to be flooded with a pervasive, unstoppable radiation leak. They’ll be headed for their escape pods like rats off a sinking ship. Are you ready to join the others on the array?”

“I certainly am,” Mirror Orion replied. “I expected to be treated with respect befitting my counterpart’s rank and achievements, but as far as I can tell, everyone here treats him as some sort of a joke. They don’t take him seriously at all! They call him ‘hay-muncher’ right to his face! It makes me so angry! He has so much potential, and it’s all wasted! He’s a laughing stock! I have half a mind to return here and settle the score!”

“Let’s get out of here before you get even more upset,” said Mirror Raven, and soon they disappeared, just as their Federation counterparts reached their hiding place.

“Missed them by _that_ much…” Orion muttered.

* * *

The two Mirror Equestrians rematerialized on the transporter pad of the array, where they were met by Commander Riker. “Welcome aboard, you two,” he said. “How did it go?”

“Splendidly, Commander,” Raven replied. “My husband did his part, I did mine, and we should be all set. The Captain should be pleased.”

Riker nodded. “Good to hear. You two go get changed so you can join us for Captain Picard’s meeting. But hurry, if all goes according to plan we’ve only got about 45 minutes.” The two ponies nodded and quickly departed.

A few minutes later, the senior staff of the ISS _Enterprise_ gathered in the array’s main room. Picard smiled. “Ah, Lord and Lady Shadow, the ponies of the hour! Commander Riker was just telling us that your mission was a success, setting us up for what will undoubtedly be our greatest victory! Today, it all comes together my friends, the first of many liberations that will consolidate our power base once and for all!”

“Why should we settle for merely being power brokers when we can rule?” Picard continued. “Each of us with a warship like the _Enterprise_ , an armada that neither the Klingon-Cardassian alliance nor the Empire itself can withstand! Against all odds, against our very nature, you all have been loyal to me, and today that loyalty begins to bear precious fruit! Victory and conquest are within our grasp!”

He gestured to Orion. “All thanks to this: first, Lord Shadow’s discovery of how to use the transporter as a means to cross over to this alternate universe, and then to his and Commander La Forge’s ingenious extrapolation of those theories to this array station! With this, we can beam over this _Enterprise_ to our own universe, the first of many! All the work you put in, the months of research, the struggle! Well done, all of you!”

“Thank you, Captain,” said Orion. “It has been my fondest pleasure to do this work.”

“Credit also goes to Commander Riker spearheading the raiding missions to collect all the material needed to convert this station to our uses,” Picard continued. “And of course, I must also congratulate Lady Shadow and her husband for going into the belly of the beast to lure our target here, and inputting commands to create a false emergency. Their crew will abandon ship, and we will commandeer their beautiful, empty warship to take home with us. The evacuation will save us the problem of dispensing with over a thousand hostages, and the abrupt disappearance of the vessel will hinder any investigations into its whereabouts. They’ll never know.” He looked over at Data, who was standing by a computer terminal. “Mr. Data! When will the evacuation begin? I’m rather keen to see it for myself.”

“It should begin any moment now, Captain,” Data replied.

Picard nodded, and everyone turned to the window. “Well then, let’s watch. This should be quite a show.”

There was a long silence. The _Enterprise_ sat, and there was no sudden swarm of escape pods flying from it. “Nothing’s happening,” Picard murmured. “Something is not right.”

“Relax, Captain, I’m sure it’s just seconds away,” said La Forge.

Picard rounded on him, infuriated. “Really? You’re sure? Then why am I not reassured?! WHY ISN’T ANYTHING HAPPENING?!” He slammed his fist into a computer terminal, shattering the glass and cutting himself. “DAMN IT!” He pointed at Orion and Raven. “You two! This is all your fault, it must be!”

“We did our jobs, you idiotic old fool!” Orion yelled. “Every component and command was laid in precisely as we were instructed! Whatever happened over there, it is certainly not our fault!”

“Do you hear something?” interrupted La Forge. “It sounds like a transporter activating!”

And it was. An away team shimmered into view, with the Federation Orion and Raven leading it. Joining them were Commanders Worf, Riker, Data, and a few members of the security staff.

“No…” whispered Picard.

“Aw, hell,” said Mirror Riker.

Orion Prime took out a bowtie from a pocket of his uniform and slipped it on as he spoke. “I do hope you don’t mind, ‘Captain’, but we decided not to wait for an invitation,” he said. “We discovered your attempt at sabotage almost as soon as it was executed. But we certainly weren’t going to leave a murderous band of thieves free to use one of our communications arrays as a pirates’ nest!” He strode forward and locked eyes with his mirror counterpart, as did everyone else, if they had one. “You have many crimes to answer for, Orion Shadow,” he added coldly.

“Then make your move,” hissed Mirror Orion. “If you have the fortitude, that is.” There was a silence. No one moved.”What are you waiting for? Too scared to move?”

“It’s like some sort of horrifying carnival reflection,” commented Raven. “Distorted and twisted… all our worst instincts and potentials brought to the light.”

“You’re not the first to cross over, you know,” Orion continued. “We found records of two previous incursions decades ago, although those incidents seemed accidental. And you certainly were better at going unnoticed than your predecessors, at least for a while. Whatever you’re up to, it has to stop. You’ve been found out now, further aggression is pointless!”

Mirror Orion began to laugh, loud and long. “Oh, how _very_ like the Borg you are, Mr. Shadow!” he exclaimed. “Is that so? And I suppose we are to simply leave and never darken the great Federation’s door again?” He rolled his eyes. “Be serious. That’s the least of your concerns, ‘Ambassador.’ Now I have no choice but to take your captain’s crew!”

“Excuse me?!” thundered Mirror Picard. “I do believe _I_ give the orders around here, Mr. Shadow!”

Mirror Orion turned and glared at him. “Be silent, you stupid old man! Need I remind you that _I_ have been the driving force behind all of this?! It was _I_ who killed Emperor Spock and learned his secrets, it was _I_ who spearheaded the creation of the dimensional rings, it was _I_ who found this universe to begin with! If it wasn’t for me, your pathetic little empire would have been conquered years ago!” He picked Picard up and threw him into the wall, knocking him out. “I’m giving the orders around here now!” he announced.

Mirror Orion turned back to his counterpart. “It wasn’t my intention, but your ship will be mine! I should at least be able to squeeze some value out of the crew by selling them into slavery, _especially_ the humans. My Empress has need of some new cattle to work Equestria’s fields. Commander Data, begin array activation _now_ , the rest of you… OPEN FIRE, KILL THEM ALL!”

“RUN!” yelled Orion, and he led the Federation officers through the hallways of the array, Raven galloping alongside him. He looked to Data. “We need to find out exactly what that order was he just issued. Mr. Data, get to a terminal and learn everything as fast as you can, whatever it takes.” As leader of the away team, he’d been given special permission to order other officers as necessary.

Data nodded. “Yes, Ambassador.” He hurried along the next corridor, while the security officers laid down suppressing fire to cover him. He approached a terminal, and a few moments of tapping later, he’d gotten in. Tapping his combadge, he reported, “Ambassador, I have accessed the array’s operating system. They have managed to link the array’s main transmitters to the transporter protocols they used to cross over to this universe. When the array has moved to the proper position in 15 minutes, it will target the _Enterprise_ and transport it to their universe. It has been set with a failsafe that is preventing me from shutting it down from here. The cluster of operational components has been attached to the array’s systems at the upper ceiling level, it will have to be destroyed.”

“Understood,” said Orion. “Thank you, Mr. Data.” He looked to Raven. “Let’s get to the lifts. If we hurry we can make it before the ship is transported.” Turning back to the others, he shouted, “The rest of you, maintain fire! Keep them pinned down if you can!” Then he and Raven galloped off toward the turbolift, only to be pursued by their counterparts.

The upper levels were dark, but the two ponies could still see the cluster attached to the ceiling. As Orion lit his horn to fire off a spell, he heard his own voice say: “Not another step, Mr. Shadow.” Orion turned, and found his counterpart aiming his horn at Raven’s neck. “One false move, and she dies.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Orion growled. “She’s too important to us!”

“Do not question what I would or would not dare to do, scum!” Mirror Orion snarled. “I am culling the herd of those who are weak! Besides, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” He narrowed his eyes. “Why do you work with these pathetic humans?”

“I could ask you the same question,” said Orion. “What’s your story?”

“My Empress placed me aboard their ship to ensure that they are holding up their end of the deal with the Equestrian Solar Empire,” Mirror Orion replied. “I’ve seen how your human crewmates treat you. You’re little more than a joke to them, a foal’s carnival attraction! You have so much potential, and you’re wasting it making ‘friends’ with humans!” He rolled his eyes. “Humans are weak and spineless creatures, waiting to be ruled! We equines are superior in every respect, capable of feats that they can only dream of!”

“And yet you’re working with them too,” Orion pointed out. “Why do you care what happens to the Terran Empire?”

“Because I want Empress Celestia to have _something_ to take over when the time comes,” said Mirror Orion. “We will work with them until the Cardassians and Klingons have been brought to heel. After that… we’ll exterminate all of them, and take their planet for ourselves.”

“You are a monster,” Orion growled. “And I will not let you win!” He lit his horn and fired a single beam of magic at the cluster above him. It exploded, and the room they were in began to shake. A hole opened up in the floor, sending the four ponies down to the ground below.

“Surrender your forces, Lord Shadow!” Orion shouted.

Mirror Orion smirked. “Not today, Ambassador. We’ll meet again under better circumstances.” Then the Mirror crew disappeared with a shimmer of blue light.

* * *

_“Captain’s log, supplemental. The station personnel of the Martorelles array report that the facility is under repair and will be back online shortly. In addition, I have made a request that Starfleet strengthen the defenses of this installation to help prevent something like this from happening again.”_

Orion and Raven stepped into Picard’s ready room. “You sent for us, sir?” Raven asked.

Picard nodded. “First, I would like to thank you both for your actions during the mission today. Commander Riker tells me you conducted yourselves with all the proper decorum of true Starfleet officers. He believes, as do I, that you will both make excellent officers when the time comes. With that in mind…” He produced two red command [uniforms](http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/gallery/stmagazine/tnguniforms2.jpg), new ones with red shoulders and a purple-grey undershirt, and three pips, two filled and one empty, already attached. “Congratulations, Lieutenant Commanders Orion and Raven Shadow,” he said, smiling.

“Thank you, Captain!” Orion exclaimed, taking his new uniform. “Thank you very much indeed!” He found it had already been modified to suit his and Raven’s quadrupedal posture. “I just have one question… why is it different to yours?”

“Starfleet has begun introducing a new uniform style,” Picard explained. “It will take time for the new design to spread across the fleet however. You two are the first officers aboard this ship to wear them.”

“What an honor,” said Raven, awed. “Was there anything else you needed from us, sir?”

“As it happens, yes,” Picard replied. “Commander Data has calculated that there are so many variables involved in crossing between universes, and so many possible points of entry, that he has not yet been able to come up with any reliable way to prevent our alternative counterparts from attempting further visits. However, the amount of energy and resources they put into brining so many of their crew, and planning to steal the _Enterprise_ -D… he is convinced that this failure will be an enormous setback for them. They may not be able to mount a similar effort for at least another 35 years. Regardless, as long as they have their technology, they remain a threat. I’d like you two to assist Commander Data in his investigations.”

“We’ll do our best, sir,” said Orion, saluting smartly.

Picard nodded. “As I expected. Dismissed.”

* * *

That night, Orion and Raven sat together in their quarters, discussing the events of the day over dinner. “Personally, I hope we’ve seen the last of our evil twins,” said Raven. “Your counterpart was especially vicious and cruel.”

“You can say that again,” Orion agreed. “When I first saw him on Naia IV, I couldn’t help but think of an old quotation… ‘For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face-to-face.”

“Do you think our alternative universe counterparts are mere reflections of ourselves, or are they the products of a different, more hostile universe?” Raven asked.

Orion chuckled. “You’re getting at the very heart of the nature vs nurture debate, love. Philosophers of many species have been debating that point for hundreds of years. One thing is certain: if these looking-glass versions of ourselves manage to infiltrate our lives, there will be untold chaos and calamity. We can only hope that they do not.”

And with that pleasant thought, the _Enterprise_ warped off into the stars.

* * *

Back on the ISS _Enterprise,_ Mirror Picard was still alive. He’d woken up just as the crew was transported back to the ship, and returned to his ready room, where he summoned Orion. He reached for his phaser, pointing it at the unicorn. “Give me one good reason why I should let you live, you traitorous little hay-muncher,” he snarled. “If it wasn’t for you, that entire scheme would have worked! We could have an entire armada of Galaxy-class warships at our disposal!”

“I don’t give a damn about your little schemes, Picard,” Orion growled, lighting his horn. “I’m tired of taking orders from you! So you’ll die, and we’ll all move up in rank!” He threw the phaser into the fish tank with magic, shattering the glass and sending water all over the floor. Then he jumped on top of Picard, sending the taller man to the floor. His head hit the desk, and blood spurted everywhere.

As he had with Spock, Orion loomed over him. “Any last words, Jean-Luc?”

“Go… to… Hell…” Picard managed to say.

“Only if you go first,” Orion replied, taking the man’s head in his hooves and twisting. There was a snapping noise, and Picard lay still, dead. Satisfied, Orion teleported the corpse into the vacuum of space, then got to his hooves and strode onto the bridge, taking the center seat. He pressed a button on the console, sending a ship-wide message: _“Attention all hands, this is Lord Orion Shadow speaking. Jean-Luc Picard is dead. As of this moment,_ I _am now captain of the ISS Enterprise. Lady Raven Shadow will be serving as my first officer. Anyone who attempts to oppose me will be executed in a manner of my choosing.”_

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” barked Riker. “This crew was chosen out of their loyalty to Picard, not you! _I_ should be captain!”

“Remember your place, _Lieutenant Commander_ , or you’ll be left behind in the cold vacuum of space, just like your former commanding officer!” Orion shouted. Riker grumbled and took an empty chair.

Orion turned to Inquisitor Troi. “Inquisitor, I am given to understand that your role under Picard’s command was to evaluate the loyalties of the crew,” he said, in a more polite voice. “Would you mind doing the same for me?”

“It would be my pleasure, Captain,” replied Troi.

Orion nodded. “Excellent. Make a list of anyone you deem to be disloyal and give it to me, I’ll handle their executions myself.”

Raven stepped onto the bridge and climbed into the second seat, taking Riker’s place. “So, you’re captain now, huh?”

Orion nodded. “Indeed I am. The Terran flagship, commanded by an Equestrian pony… the humans will be quaking in their boots when they see us.”

“Fine with me,” said Raven, kissing his cheek. “Where to next?”

“I have just the place,” Orion replied. “Helm, set course for the Zacherele system, please, warp 9. Empress Celestia will want to see what we’ve done.”

“Course laid in, Captain,” said the helm officer.

“Engage,” Orion barked, and the _Enterprise_ zoomed off.


	3. Revolution Calling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First Officer Gemini Shadow embarks on a mission of her own, killing her captain and stealing a Federation vessel that has wound up in their universe.

The ISS Icarus drifts among the stars. The Captain, Clayton Forrester, records his daily log. "Captain's log, stardate 80458.8. We've left Gorlan Station and have set a course to rendezvous with our assault fleet. Lieutenant Dazzle has asked for a few minutes to show me her latest project."

Adagio stands in front of what is clearly an Agony Booth. "I discovered that Equestrians are impervious to the traditional pain settings," she explains, "So I've prepared a new model that is specifically calibrated to our unique biology." Inside, Ensign Aria Blaze is currently screaming in silent pain. "The new booth will be far more effective than our previous disciplinary methods," Adagio continues. "It latches on to our magical reserves and causes us to remain ponied-up, as you can see by my sister's ears."

"They call this progress," Gem says, looking unimpressed.

"There's something to be said for a good, old-fashioned flogging," agrees Forrester.

"What exactly did Miss Blaze do?" Gem asked.

Adagio shrugged. "I'm not certain. I suspect she was late for her duty shift."

Forrester nods. "Keep up the good work, Miss Dazzle." He leaves, and Gem scurries after him.

Out in an adjoining hallway, the two officers get a chance to talk. "Did you get a chance to look over my proposal?" Gem asked.

Forrester nods. "I read it. We're going to rendezvous with the fleet as ordered. I'm not going into foreign space based on data from some anonymous source. Maybe you haven't heard, but we have a rebellion to put down."

Gem stared at him, her scorn clear on her face. "You saw the data. This technology would give us a tactical advantage. We could end the war tomorrow!"

Forrester smirked. "You see this as your big chance, don't you? You bring that ship home, and you'll be a heroine. Your little horse empress pins a medal on your chest. You might even get that command you've always wanted."

"My only concern is saving the Solar Empire," Gem growled. "I couldn't care less about you Terrans. You're all a bunch of weak, puny-minded monkeys."

"Resume your station, Commander," Forrester snarls, emphasising Gem's rank. He began to walk further down the hall toward his quarters.

"Captain, you're making a mistake!" Gem shouts after him.

"You can either go back to the Bridge or take the place of Miss Blaze," Forrester says coldly. "Which do you prefer?"

"Understood," Gem grumbles, turning away. She heads back to the bridge, slamming her fist into the wall as she went along. "Damn Terrans, so high and mighty just because they've been here longer than us... They'll see! They'll ALL see! The Equestrians will take their empire for ourselves, and all will know the superiority of the pony race!"

* * *

At an impromptu meeting in Gem’s quarters (the only one swept for listening devices every day), the Equestrians all gathered and listened to Gem recapping her conversation with Forrester that day.

“And the fool doesn’t want that power?” Aria asked, mystified. “He’s dumber than he looks.”

“He bought your acting skills, though. Nice job in the agony booth today,” Gem said with a smile.

Adagio chuckled. “It is true, it does work, but it feels more like a tickle to us. For humans, the setting I used can be lethal.”

“Good,” Gem said with a sour expression. “The more of them that are dead, the better the universe is.”

“I dunno,” Sunset said, “some of them are pretty good in the sack. And then there’s the guys...”

“Yeah, and ever since I developed that strain of extra-potent marijuana using poison joke pollen, we’re set for whatever we need, they won’t stop buying it.” Twilight looked especially pleased.

“Girls,” Gem said softly, “I believe it’s time for us to ascend to our rightful places in this pitiful excuse for an empire. Tomorrow, we take over and grab that ship for ourselves. All of you will be my command staff, Aria and Sonata will continue their duties but their opinions will carry as much weight as any one of us. Make your preparations, gather your allies, and hail to the Solar Empire!!”

“Hail Celestia!!” they all said in unison.

* * *

Captain Forrester's day started out normally. He got out of bed, brushed his teeth, combed his hair and mustache, and changed into his standard duty uniform. That done, he headed out down the hall and toward the turbolift. "The bridge," he announced.

"Good morning, Captain," says a cold voice. The speaker was invisible. "I hope you slept well, considering it was the last such sleep you'll ever have."

Forrester whirled about angrily, trying to see who or what dared to challenge his authority. “Show yourselves, you--” He never got to finish as a well-placed boot caught him in the crotch. Dropping to the deck, starts swimming in his vision, he saw several pairs of boots surrounding him. The turbolift had stopped moving, he was certain of that, but he had no knowledge of where on the ship it could possibly be. He tried to focus, tried to look up and see who his attackers were. He got his wish as his head was jerked up, and the last image he saw was of Gem laughing cruelly as a cold blade was pressed against his neck. The blade jerked, and Captain Clayton Forrester succumbed to the shadows.

* * *

The doors to the turbolift opened, and a head was rolled across the floor of the bridge. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the head, then at Gem and the rest of the Equestrians as they strode from the turbolift. All of them had blood on their boots.

“As of this moment, I, Gemini Shadow of the Solar Empire, am in command of this vessel!” she exclaimed. “Does anyone wish to challenge me?” She glared at the stunned faces now staring back at her. No one dared say anything.

“Lieutenant Dazzle, take the current bridge crew for ‘re-education.’ The rest of you, assume your stations,” Gem commanded. The bridge crew was herded into the bloody turbolift, and the doors closed. Blaster shots rang out almost as suddenly. Adagio stepped from the turbolift, over the corpses piled inside, and announced grimly, “They tried to resist, so I had to stop them because I feared for my life.”

Gem shrugged. “Couldn’t be helped, I guess. Helm! Lay in a course at the settings I provided earlier, maximum warp!”

“Plotted, and laid in, Captain!” Sonata called from her station, tapping on her console.

Gem grinned a satisfied grin, one reserved for use after her special ‘alone time’ sessions. “Whoa, that was better than sex, hearing that! Engage!!”

The Icarus’s engines flashed to life, and the ship leapt toward the distant stars.

Gem settled into the center seat of the ISS Icarus and smiled. “About damn time I took control of this ship,” she said. “Navigator, locate that ship we’ve been hearing so much about.”

“Aye, ma’am,” Aria replied coolly, and went to work. After several minutes, the hull of a spaceship appeared on the main view screen. “This is the Galaxy-class USS Axanar, registry number NCC-72614.”

“Hail them,” Gem ordered. “I want them to know exactly what they’re dealing with.” The Axanar’s captain, Alec Garth, appeared on screen moments later. Gem smiled darkly. “USS Axanar, this is Captain Gemini Shadow of the ISS Icarus. Lower your shields and prepare to be boarded.”

“Wait, please!” said Garth quickly. “We have injured people aboard! The ion storm that brought us here knocked out our warp drive!”

Gem looked bored. “You don’t seem to understand where you are, do you? You’re in what you seem to call the mirror universe, okay? There is no Federation here, only the Equestrian Solar Empire! I don’t give a damn about your injured people! Lower your shields at once and I might let you live! Got it?!”

“You will not threaten us, Captain Shadow,” said Garth defiantly. “We’ll have you reported for this!”

Gem began to laugh loud and long. When she had finished, her smile was positively demonic. “Please, my superiors are on the same side as me. There’s nothing you can do except hold on tight. Icarus out.” The screen went dark. “Miss Dazzle, fire photon torpedoes, full spread. Knock down their shields and meet me in the transporter room, we’ll beam over and kill all their people.”

* * *

The Axanar was in a panic as the members of the crew who hadn’t yet died attempted to fight the invaders from the Icarus, only to be defeated soundly. On the bridge, Gem burst through the turbo lift doors and fired seven shots, killing all the bridge crew except the captain. Then she smiled. “I like your ship, Garth... I think I might keep it.”

“Are you going to kill me?” Garth asked, rising.

“But of course,” Gem said, walking closer to him and running her fingers along his cheek. “That’s how we do things in this universe. Your ship has things mine doesn’t, so I’m taking it. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her.” She patted the center chair fondly. “Any last words?”

“None,” Garth said coldly. “You’re a horrible, bloodthirsty murderer Captain Shadow, you should’ve been arrested a long time ago!”

Gem nodded. “I most certainly am. And you are a weak, spineless poltroon of a human. I loathe humans, Captain Garth. One day, I’ll murder every single one of them... and I’ll start with you.” She aims her blaster at his heart. “Goodbye, Captain Garth. I’ll see you in Hell.” And she fired. Garth collapsed to the ground.

Gem surveyed the bridge and nodded. “Oh yes, I like this ship very much.” She tapped her comm badge. “Shadow to Commander Wave! Are you ready for the transformation?”

“All ready to go, Captain, as soon as you give the word,” Emerald replied.

“The word is given. Begin the integration of our systems to theirs. And have your surplus maintenance crews report for ... janitorial duty aboard this ship. Shadow out.”

Raven and the rest of the bridge crew arrived. Raven let out a low whistle. “Whoa, swanky digs,” she said, awed at the size of the Galaxy-class vessel’s bridge. “What are our orders?”

“Sister dear, you will supervise the refitting, the rest of you are to familiarize yourselves with the controls. I have something else to tend to, I will return later.” She stepped into the turbolift and closed the door.

* * *

“Oh, Hoooooo-ferrrrrrrrr,” Gem called out, “get your sorry butt out heeeeeeeeeeere...”

Dustin emerged from his hovel of an office, and dropped to his knees in front of Gem. “M-m —my mistress commands...” he said haltingly.

Gem placed her fingers under Dustin’s chin and lifted his head up to face her. “Your mistress is in a good mood today. This means it should be easy for a worthless piece of dung such as yourself to satisfy me. Do you want to satisfy your mistress, Hoofer?” Gem said sultrily.

Dustin swallowed hard. “Yes, M-m-mistress.”

“Good boy,” Gem said condescendingly. She stepped over to what appeard to be a wall, and directed her magic at it. The ‘wall’ parted, revealing a small dungeon with various torture implements. “And if you do really good, I may let you be ‘satisfied,’ too. Come along now,” she cooed, beckoning with her finger.

Dustin could only nod, as he crawled on his hands and knees into the dungeon, The wall closed once they were inside. Silence reigned over sickbay, no matter how loud Dustin screamed.

* * *

"And just like that, we took over the ship and killed Captain Garth," Gem said to the viewscreen. Empress Celestia was in view. "Our current plan is to go to Earth, kill the Emperor, and claim the Terran Empire in your name. Would you like us to come and get you so you can make an address to your new subjects, your Imperial Eminence?"

Celestia smiled, a small smile but enough to chill those that knew what was lurking behind it. “You have proven yourselves worthy, all of you,” Celestia purred, “and you shall be rewarded for your efforts. As for the Terrans,” she said, supporting her head with her hooves, “leave them to fight amongst themselves for now. We have bigger things to go after. This ship, you say it belongs to a larger organization, something called a ‘Federation?’”

“Yes, Your Greatness,” Gem said, “they exist outside of this universe. Finding this ship was a pure fluke, thanks to an ion storm that transported them here.”

“Interesting...” Celestia thought briefly, then a thought came to her. “The Terrans are scheduled to negotiate with the Halkan Council for dilithium rights, am I correct?”

“Correct, as always, Your Eminence,” Gem replied.

“I will arrange for your ship to be the one that conducts those negotiations. I care not for the mining rights, but make it appear that you are still servile to the Terrans for a little while longer. While you conduct these talks, study the ion storms in that region of space. Find out if it is possible to recreate them to open a rift into the Federation’s universe. Once we accomplish this, we shall conquer them, and then the Terran Empire. With your aid, the Solar Empire will become multi-universal.” she began to laugh, softly, then with more force and mirth at the thought of expanding her sphere of power.

"As you command, Your Eminence," Gem says, once Celestia's laughter has subsided. She salutes by way of a fist bump against her chest and a raised arm pointed forward, and the screen goes dark.


	4. The Light Dimension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew of the ISS Endeavour are swapped with their Prime counterparts.

“First officer’s log, stardate 80683.2. Captain Shadow, Lieutenant Dazzle, Lieutenant Commander Sparkle, and Lieutenant Shimmer are with the leader of the Halkans, negotiating dilithium mining rights for the Empire, but an ion storm appears to be brewing.”

Down on the planet, negotiations continue. “We believe what you say, Captain Shadow, but our position has not altered. The Halkan Council cannot permit your Empire to mine dilithium crystals on our planet. While we accept that your Empire is benevolent at present, the future is always in question. Our dilithium crystals represent awesome power. Wrongful use of that power, even to the extent of the taking of one life, would violate our history of total peace. To prevent that, we would die, Captain. As a race, if necessary.”

"Consider your wish granted, Mr. Tharn," Gem says coldly, and taps her comm. badge. “Shadow to Endeavor.”

“Commander Shadow here,” says Raven’s voice.

“What’s the weather like up there, Commander?” Gem asks.

On the bridge, Raven is sitting in her usual chair as she speaks to Gem. “Standard ion type, Captain, but quite violent and unpredictable.” As she speaks, the Endeavor shakes.

“Rough ride?” asks Gem.

“If we stay,” Raven says simply.

Gem nods. “Stand by to beam up landing party. Plot an extended orbit to clear disturbance. Shadow out.”

“Comply, Miss Dusk,” Raven instructs.

Sonata nods. “Aye, ma’am.”

Back on the ground, the away team prepares to leave. Gem taps her badge again and barks “Captain to transporter room, four to beam up. Energise.”

* * *

In the transporter room, Ensign Kyle is having some difficulties as Raven comes in to greet the returning officers. “Trouble, ma’am,” he says, just as four figures start to materialise, then disappear again. Then four different figures solidify, wearing strange uniforms without any gold sashes.

“Raven was right, it was a rough trip,” Gem comments, as she and the others step down off the platform. Raven and Kyle greet their Captain with a Nazi-like salute.

“At norm, Mister Kyle. Controls at neutral,” Raven says.

Kyle nods. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Status of mission, Captain?” Raven asks.

Gem pauses. Something seems terribly off, but she decides to play along so as to not attract suspicion, at least for now. “No change,” she says at last.

Raven nods. “Standard procedure, Captain?” As Gem nods, Raven taps her comm. badge. “Miss Dusk, you will program phaser barrage on Halkan cities.”

“Yes, Commander Shadow,” says Sonata, who now has a scar on her face.

“Their military capability, Captain?” Raven asks.

“None,” says Gem. “They are a peaceful bunch.”

Raven nods. “Regrettable that this society has chosen suicide.” She turns back to Ensign Kyle. “Mister Kyle, you were instructed to compensate during the ion storm.”

“But I tried, Commander Shadow, I tried,” Kyle protests.

Raven frowns, “Carelessness with the equipment cannot be tolerated.”

“But Commander Shadow, I-“ says Kyle, just as Raven interrupts him.“Your agoniser,” she barks.

“No, Commander Shadow!” Kyle’s eyes are wide with fear.

“Your agoniser, please,” Raven says again, losing patience. A guard restrains Kyle and takes a device from his belt. Raven places the device on Kyle's collar bone, and he writhes in agony. When it is removed, he collapses. Gem looks on, horrorstruck. “Sister... how could you...”

“Did you say something, Captain?” Raven asks, eyeing Gem suspiciously.

“There … was a fluctuation during transport, while we were inside the beam,” Adagio says, sounding as authoritative as possible. “I think we should report to Sickbay to get checked out, to make sure we're all right.” She looked hard at Gem, hoping she'd get the hint.

“First round of Halkan cities are now within phaser range. Awaiting orders to commence attack run,” Aria's voice said coldly over the intercom.

“They're just about to crack,” Twilight said quickly, “the captain just needs a little time, but their dilithium crystals will soon be ours.”

Raven nods. “Very well. Ensign Blaze, do not fire until the captain has concluded negotiations with these weak little sheep.” She turns to Gem. “Twenty-four more hours should be sufficient, I believe. The High Command will allow no greater delay than that. Meanwhile, I concur that you should report to Sickbay for physical examination.”

"Then let's not waste any more time," Gem says, and the group quickly make their way to sickbay. The layout of the ship, at least, had not changed. As the four made their way along, Gem looked around the ship, frowning. "Look at that symbol on the doors and walls," she whispers. "And on everyone's communication badges... the Earth bisected by a sword. I don't know where we are or what's happened to that transporter, but whatever it is, it isn't good... you all saw how Raven was acting back there. I know my sister like the back of my hand, and I know the real Raven would never be so callous and cold." They huddle. "Twilight and Sunset, you go find the ship's library and find out whatever information you can, and whether or not we can get out of here. Adagio, stay with me. Set phasers to stun, and use magic only if absolutely necessary. Is that clear?"

The others all nodded in agreement, and after a short while they arrived at Sickbay. No medical staff was visible when they entered, and the layout had each of them confused. Where the laboratory normally was, an array of equipment giving off a strange chemical smell. Lining a wall where one would normally find biobeds, the beds had been removed in favor of hydroponic containers, each one with a different species of plant growing inside. Twilight scanned the plants and checked the results on her tricorder. “Captain … each one of these plants is a known hallucinogen on its home world. And that lab … historical database shows that was a setup to prepare a synthetic compound known as methamphetamine.”

Rounding the corner, Doctor Hoofer called out, “Look, you need to go to deck fifteen if you want...” he stopped, and his face blanched. “Oh no … my mistress, I apologize, I forgot about our appointment, I'm not prepared! Please! Please, I was cooking all night long, please have mercy....” He crumpled into a little ball on the floor, sobbing heavily.

Gem stares at Doctor Hoofer, mouth agape. "Doctor Hoofer, would you please control yourself?" she asked, pulling him to his feet. "I don't know what appointment you're talking about, and I can't imagine why you're thinking I'm going to punish you, when in fact I trust you in all things medical. What I would like to know is why your sickbay appears to have become what is known on Earth as a meth lab." As she speaks, two men in yellow jumpsuits pass by, one with a small beard and large glasses on his face while the other is younger with a small mustache above his top lip.

"I didn't ask for any of this! How am I supposed to live here now, huh? My whole house smells like toe cheese and dry cleaning!" says the younger man.

The older man facepalms. "Because you didn't follow my instructions!"

The younger man rolls his eyes. "Oh well, heil Hitler, bitch! And let me tell you something else. We flipped a coin, okay? You and me. You and me! Coin flip is sacred! Your job is waiting for you in that basement, as per the coin!" Their voices trail off as they disappear into another part of the lab.

Dustin is still sobbing, not daring to raise his eyes and look at Gem. “Y-you said when you returned from this away mission, you w-w-were gonna need some 'stress relief,' so naturally I-I-I assumed you were gonna do one of our 'sessions,' but I haven't prepared the dungeon yet and ...” He finally looks up when he hears Gem's quizzical tone. “Wait a minute … you're not Mistress Gemini. But, you look somewhat like her. And the rest of you...” He slowly gets to his feet. “The … the lab was Lieutenant Sparkle's idea … both to raise funds and to keep the crew placated A stoned crew is a non-mutinous and easily-controlled crew, she said. But … who are you that you wouldn't know that?”

Gem sighs. "We're not supposed to be here... we're from another universe. One where there aren't those peculiar symbols you're wearing on your uniform, and one where my sister isn't a cold-hearted witch. But we're also trapped and can't get home." She takes Dustin's hand in hers, squeezing it. "I have no doubt that you are a man of integrity even in this universe, Doctor Hoofer, and what I need right now is someone who can help us get back to where we're supposed to be. Can you do that for us?" Her voice is soft and almost pleading.

Dustin nods. “O-o-okay … first, let's do a check-up on all of you. This way.” He leads the away team into another room. Biobeds line the walls here, a few filled with grotesque mutations barely clinging to life. “More of Mistress Gemini's doing … attempting to create the perfect killing machine. Poor things never live past a week, on average. So, I have to keep them sedated and comfortable until they eventually expire.” Dustin shakes his head with disgust. “She made it sound too good, plied me with promises of debauchery and wealth beyond my wildest imaginations, even … gave herself to me to seal the deal. And all I am to her, all I've ever been, is a mere slave, a literal whipping boy.” He lifts his tunic, red welts visible on his back. He shakes his head. “Okay, check-ups. Let's get started.”

After a few minutes, Dustin is looking at a readout on his display terminal. “I don't believe it. You two, yourself and Mistress Gemini, are identical. The only thing really different about you two is your personalities. Luckily, whatever that ion storm you told me about did to get you sent here, it didn't do any serious damage to you physically.”

Twilight went pale. “Captain … seeing what's going on here, what do you suppose is going on over on our Endeavor?”

Gem sighs. "Mass chaos, I would imagine, Miss Sparkle."

* * *

Meanwhile on Endeavor Prime, four figures materialize onto the transporter pad, wearing more flamboyant uniforms with the symbol from earlier in place of the usual Empire insignia. All four are carrying blasters, and Sunset's midriff is bare.

Mirror Gem looks around, frowning. “Raven was right, it was a rough trip,” she comments, as they all step down off the platform.

“At norm, Mister Kyle. Controls at neutral,” Raven says. Kyle nods. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Status of mission, Captain?” Raven asks.

“No change,” Gem says at last, her tone cold. "Have Ensign Blaze begin preparing a phaser barrage to strike at their cities." She smiles darkly. "Those little sheep will never know what hit them."

Raven and Kyle exchange a look. “Captain, is everything all right? You don't seem like yourself,” Raven said, eyeing Gem suspiciously.

Adagio draws her phaser and points it at Raven. “You dare question the captain's orders and motives?” she snarls.

“Whoa, chill out, Dagi-o,” Twilight says in a slightly slurred voice. “Here, eat your brownie, you'll feel better.” Adagio snorts and eats, as Twilight smiles. “There, that should buy you some time, Ravey-wavey, but you better do as the captain saaaaaays....” she says in a singsong voice.

Raven is still stunned by the actions of the away team. “Um, perhaps, Captain, it might be a good idea to visit Sickbay and make sure the ion storm didn't do any serious damage to you...”

"Oh very well, sister of mine," Gem spits, snorting contemptuously. "With me, girls!" The other three follow along quickly.

As they walk through the halls, Gem looks around and says to Adagio, "I feel as if we are not where we are supposed to be, Lieutenant Commander Dazzle. Raven did not obey my orders as she usually does. And look at these fools!" She points out several random crewmembers, "Do they look stoned to you?"

"I agree, Captain," Adagio says. "It's very confusing." They enter the sickbay. Gem looks around, stunned. "Where are my experiments?!" she shouts. "Where is my laboratory? HOOFER! GET OUT HERE BEFORE I SHOOT YOU!"

The medical staff scrambles for cover before Dustin's office door opens and he comes storming out. He stops short, seeing Mirror Gem and the others. “Well,” he says, calmly at first, “you know, it's not every day that I get people coming in here seeking voluntary euthanasia. Truth be told, I think this is a first in my entire, storied career. And yet, here you are, you in your … “ He looks at Sunset, then reaches into his pocket and takes out a small piece of paper. “Miss Shimmer, I think that outfit would look better with clear heels.” He tucks the paper in the waistband of her trousers. “Now then,” he says turning to Mirror Gem, “there's this little matter of a boneheaded Starfleet officer barging into MY SICKBAY threatening to have me shot! And I believe captain Bonehead better start apologizing RIGHT THIS INSTANT before I flip her over one of these tables and administer the most POWERFUL colonic I can create to remove whatever BUG crawled up her BACKSIDE and DIED!!!” He stands nose-to-nose with Mirror Gem, breathing heavily, pure murderous fury etched on his face.

Gem says nothing, she just calmly places the barrel of her phaser against Dustin's head. "Speak to me like that again, slave, and I really will have you shot," she growls. "Now: Inspect me, or else I'll administer the usual punishment. Do I make myself clear?"

Dustin chuckles, softly at first, then growing in volume, until he's practically laughing in Gem's face. Reaching up, he presses a point on Gem's wrist that causes her to drop the phaser, and fall to her knees in pain. Using his magic, Dustin retrieves the phaser and nods to the security staff at the man entrance. “I can definitely tell you're all not from around here. Should you wish to return from whence you came in the same condition as you arrived, you will follow my instructions to the letter. That goes for you, too, Captain Midol,” he says in a quiet, even tone. Still gripping her wrist and applying pressure, he points the phaser at her. “Now, before we begin the check-ups, tell me … where are you from and how did you get here?”

Snarling in pain and fury, Mirror Gem answers anyway. "Equestria," she manages. "We came here because of a transporter accident during an ion storm. But it's becoming increasingly clear to me this is not the ship we know, when you're supposed to be a SPINELESS, BLITHERING FOOL!" Her other hand begins to glow as she prepares a magical blast.

Dustin extends a finger from the hand holding the phaser, and a small bolt of electricity zaps Mirror Gem at the base of her neck, disrupting her magical charge. What power she was able to channel erupts in a mildly disruptive light show, the hair on all those standing nearby frizzing and standing straight up. “Take notes, people, small electrical impulses can be used to disrupt a magical blast if applied correctly and at the proper voltage. This will be covered in next week's inservice.” He roughly brings Mirror Gem to her feet and marches her to a biobed. The security officers assist him in strapping her down. Once she is secure, he leans over and looks Gem right in the eye. “Surprise. I'm not as much of an invertebrate as my counterpart is. I pity him, really. More for having to deal with you.” He turns to the rest. “Anyone else feeling … adventurous?” he asks with a sadistic grin.

The rest shake their heads, except for Twilight, who is studying the patterns on a screen saver on one of the terminals. Her jaw is slack and her eyes are glazed over. “Whooooooooooooooooooooooooa,” she says, making Dustin roll his eyes. “I think for her, we can skip the tox screen and just put 'yes.' Now then … all of you, onto a bed, please. Someone wanna help Space Cadet Serenity there?”

Sunset sighs and helps Twilight away from the monitor, throws her onto a bed as if she was some old laundry, before getting onto a biobed herself, making coy looks at the security officers and smirking. Gem, meanwhile, mumbles creative insults under her breath.

A few minutes later, Dustin is looking at the results on his terminal. “Well, apart from general temperament … and a host of STDs … nurse, give Miss Shimmer the antibiotic cocktail, and make it a double … you all are not only in good overall health, but you're practically identical to the ones that belong here. So, the real question remains, how in the blue blazes of hell do we send you back home and get our captain and crew back?”

"Who says we want to go home?" Gem says, smirking devilishly. "This new ship will need some renovations, of course, but it's nothing I haven't done before." She begins marching toward the bridge, snapping her fingers as she does so. The other three fall into line behind her.

As they make their way to the bridge, she taps her comm. badge and speaks: "Attention, all hands! This ship is now under the control of Captain Gemini Shadow, the finest officer the Terran Empire has ever produced. Bow to me and I will keep you alive. Resist, and I'll murder every last one of you. Happily. Shadow out."

* * *

Back in the mirror universe, the away team have gone their separate ways. Twilight and Sunset are reading up on this new universe and its history, while Gem and Adagio are making their way the bridge with phasers drawn, just in case.

“I really don't like this, Captain,” Adagio says softly. “This entire vessel is being run like a pirate ship, the crew is controlled by threats and drugs, and from what we've heard, if they don't get what they want, they'll lay waste to the planet and take it anyway. I sincerely hope that Doctor Hoofer can figure out a way to get us back home. And, that our counterparts don't have us up for any court-martial offenses.”

"You're telling me, Miss Dazzle," Gem says, frowning herself.

As they arrive on the bridge, Raven turns to face them, her own blaster drawn. "Well well well, if it isn't our two stowaways..."

Gem looks surprised. "You knew we didn't belong here?"

Raven nods. "Of course I did. Your uniforms are all wrong, you act differently, and Lieutenant Commander Sparkle didn't have that vacant expression she usually does." She walks closer. "Until our captain returns, I am in full command of this vessel. You will obey my commands without question, and if you do resist, I'll kill you both. Is that understood?"

"I REFUSE to be intimidated by my own sister," Gem snarls, her hands starting to glow. "Or whatever twisted version of her you purport to be!"

“Now now, don't make this harder than it has to be, dear sister,” Raven spat, leveling the phaser at Gem. “No, wait, on second thought, please resist. It'll make shooting you all the more fun. And then, I will take command and this ship will be run right for a change!”

Adagio fires her phaser and Raven drops quickly. She spots Aria and Sonata rising from their stations, weapons at the ready. “Captain! We can't fight the entire bridge! Any ideas?”

"Well, as my father used to say..." Gem grabs Adagio's hand. "Run!" And they do precisely that, while keeping a magical barrier around them at all times as they go.

Aria speaks into her comm. badge: "Red alert, red alert! Armed infiltrators currently aboard! All crew members are hereby ordered to shoot on sight!"

Gem sighs. "It's just not our lucky day..."

* * *

In the library, Twilight looks up from her book. "It says here that in this world, my mother overpowered the Sisters and banished them to the moon, installing your adopted father as her right-hoof pony," she says. "This world's Orion is just as astute as our own, but he has no qualms with killing anypony who gets in his way. When the cloning program was instituted, he made sure that his clone was given that same bloodlust."

“This is incredible!” Sunset exclaims. “A parallel universe, only more bloodthirsty, with replicas of every one of us. Each replica has the inverse traits of what we have. Whereas our Gem is compassionate, their Gem must be ruthless. I don't even want to know what my mirror self is like, but I can bet it's something horrible.”

“H-hoofer to Shimmer, are you there?” came a meek voice over Sunset's comm badge.

“Yes, Doctor, go ahead,” Sunset replied.

“I think I've figured out a way to send you home...our two universes will be passing each other again fairly soon, and if we time the transporter just so, you'll end up back in your home world.”

“That's great news, Doctor! So, what shall we do?”

“Start heading for the transporter room … oh, and you may want to have your weapons ready, your captain and security chief are being hunted as we speak.”

Sunset and Twilight share a look, then begin running for the transporter room. There, another ensign levels his blaster at the two women. "Freeze, or I shoot!" he orders.

Twilight and Sunset raise their hands. "We come in peace!" Twilight says. "Take us to... oh, nevermind!" She settles for knocking him out with her own phaser.

Gem and Adagio arrive shortly thereafter, panting heavily. "Oh thank goodness, you two are safe," Gem manages to say. "Doctor Hoofer told us to come here... he says that there's a way home."

"In bodybags," says a new voice, as Raven strides into the room, having been woken up. She's flanked on either side by Aria and Sonata. "We've decided to execute all four of you here and now," she says. "Ready, aim, fire!"

The blasts are absorbed by a magical shield thrown up between the Endeavor prime crew and the Mirror Endeavor crew. Controlling the shield is Doctor Hoofer, using all of his magical ability. “N-no. Let them go h-h-home and bring ours back,” he says quietly. “I-i-it doesn't have to be like this, C-c-commander.”

Adagio leans in to Sunset. “Let's hope the other side's going smoother than this.” Sunset nods solemnly.

It isn't. Back on Endeavor Prime, a good portion of the crew (all of them redshirts) have been killed in various fascinating ways by Mirror Gem and her cohorts, who are now holding the main bridge crew hostage. Sonata is sobbing, Aria is sitting there with her arms crossed and looking put out, and Raven is snarling at Gem, whose blaster is pointed at her chest. "Attack me again, you little runt, and I'll see to it that all your precious sister finds when she returns is your dead carcass," Gem snaps, glaring at Raven.

* * *

Mirror Raven sighs. "Oh, I suppose... but if any of you speak of this again, I'll have you all court-martialed!" She points her phaser at the prime crew. "Get on the platform!"

"With pleasure," Gem hisses. She does smile at Dustin though, and blows him a kiss. "Thank you, Doctor... I am glad I can rely on you. You are a man of integrity in both universes. But before we leave you, remember: do good. The world in which you live may be a smoldering wreck, but you can be a beacon of light in the darkness. Your actions today are proof of that."

Dustin blushes. “Thank you, Captain. I will do my best.” He moves to the transporter controls, next to Ensign Kyle, and gives him the information while Gem and the others stand on the platform.

* * *

The turbolift doors slide open and Dustin strolls onto the bridge. He looks over the scene in front of him, and chokes back several creative and possibly never-before-uttered epithets when he spies Sonata in the state she's in. “Gemini Shadow, your transport home is ready, please come with me to the transporter room. And, kindly put that pea-shooter away until you get back to your own twisted universe, mmkay?”

"That's Mistress Shadow to you, but very well," Mirror Gem says, snapping her fingers again and goose-stepping with the others to the transporter room. "You know, I'm looking forward to going home... this world is simply too -polite-. Your captain must be an absolute bore."

Dustin says not a word as they all enter the turbolift. Just as the doors are closing, Dustin turns to Mirror Gem and says, “You've never been laid properly in your entire life, have you?” Crew members reported hearing the screaming five decks distant.

* * *

“Captain's Log, stardate 80684.8. Having returned to our Endeavor, I can now focus on our continuing interactions with the Halkan Council. Despite their continued objections to allowing us to mine dilithium crystals on their world, we will take what we want, regardless of what they might think.”

Gem strides onto the bridge and takes her seat, giving her crew the usual salute. “Ensign Dusk, get the Halkans on the screen,” she barks. 

“Council leader Tharn standing by,” Sonata reports after a few moments. Tharn’s face appears on the view screen, and Gem smiles darkly. “Your time has run out. I'm tired of playing with you.” 

“This is no game, Captain Shadow,” says Tharn, frowning. 

Gem nodded. “Oh, no. It's not. You have 30 seconds to relinquish your dilithium crystals, or this face is the last one you'll see.”

“That would be most unwise, Captain,” Tharn continued. “But we are prepared to die to protect what we hold dear.” 

Gem smirked. “Have it your way, Tharn. As the Terrans say, I’ll see you in Hell.” She turns to Aria. “Miss Blaze, start the countdown. Ready phasers.” She pauses for a moment, and her smile turns positively demonic. “Wait... Load photon torpedo tubes. Full spread.”

Aria blinks. “Captain… The Halkans have no planetary defense grid. A torpedo barrage is unnecessary. The radiation fallout would likely annihilate the entire population,” she says.

“That’s the entire POINT of the exercise, _ensign_!” Gem explodes, emphasizing Aria’s rank. “Then they can’t resist us! Besides, they already said they wanted to die, we might as well give it to them! Defy me again, and it’ll be two days in the agony booth for you! Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal, ma’am,” Aria says. “Weapons primed and ready.”

“Fire,” Gem orders, and the ship launches its torpedoes, killing the planet’s population. Gem watches the destruction and chuckles softly. “Just as they deserved.”

“All torpedoes impacted, Captain. The Halkan cities have been destroyed,” Aria reports.

Gem nods. “Excellent. Miss Dazzle, contact Starfleet. Let them that I have completed the mission. Notify them that strip mining of the planet's Dilithium can proceed.”

“Aye, ma’am,” Adagio says.

Gem rises and crosses the bridge to her ready room door. She taps her comm. badge. “Doctor Hoofer, report to my ready room at once. I’ve had a very stressful day, and I’m sure you’ll understand that I am in need of some… relief.”

“C-c-coming, ma’am,” Dustin replies.

“Now then… Miss Blaze, take us out of here. Warp factor 7. Engage!” Gem barks, then enters her ready room, the door sliding closed behind her.


	5. Supremacy of the Imperials

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mirror Universe incarnation of Gem returns with a plan to assassinate her Prime counterpart and use the Endeavour as a stepping stone to becoming the Federation's first Empress. However, Mirror Dustin, exhausted with his years of living as a slave, flees to the Prime universe and works with Gem Prime to undermine his former mistress' plans.

"Captain's log, Stardate 81685.3. I, Captain Gemini Shadow of the ISS Endeavor and the finest officer that the Equestrian Solar Empire has ever produced, am about to embark upon a brand new mission: using a newly-developed dimensional ripper, I will cross into the universe I accidentally discovered last year and use it as a launching point for a new chapter of conquest. The Federation is about to see its last sunrise."

On the bridge, Gem addresses the rest of the ship: "Attention, all crew members! This vessel will be under the command of Commander Shadow until I return from my mission! She will not hesitate to apply my usual punishments to any crew members who misbehave. Anyone who dares to dissent will be murdered, either by her hand or my own upon my return. Until then, you are to go about your duties as normal. Farewell."

She takes the device in one hand and her blaster in the other, then salutes her crew. "That goes for you all, too. I make no exceptions, even for family." Then she turns and disappears into her ready room, activating the device with a glimmer of magic.

"About damn time she left," Mirror Raven says, as Mirror Gem disappears from view. "I was thinking I was going to have to instigate a mutiny. She's going to bring us all to ruin at the rate she's going, running this ship like her personal fiefdom." She settles into the center chair. "Miss Dazzle, you're my new first officer. Everyone else, continue at your current posts. As of now, I am captain of the Endeavour, and I don't care what Gem has to say about it. As soon as she gets back, I'm killing her myself."

Mirror Adagio moves from her position behind the captain’s chair to the right-hand seat, giving Raven a lusty kiss as she passes. “I am yours to command, my captain,” she purrs, settling in to her new position.

“Ooooh, can I get in on that action?” Mirror Sunset says, leaning toward Raven and Adagio. “We can make a regular party of it if you want...”

“Far oooout, a party.....” Mirror Twilight says, her eyes half-lidded. “I got some, like, primo stash set aside for a special occasion...trust me, this stuff will send ya to the other side of the universe without a starship...”

Mirror Raven simply rolls her eyes and says, "Continue on present course, helm. I have to go inform Dr. Hoofer of the new arrangements."

With that, Mirror Raven strides into sickbay, walking right past the plant life and into Dustin's office. In her hands is a riding crop. "Dr. Hoofer, your time as my sister's slave is over. Come bow before your new mistress!"

Mirror Dustin, surprised by Raven’s abrupt appearance and shocked at her words, stumbles out from behind the folding table that passes as his ‘desk.’ “C-c-commander, what are you doing? If the captain f-f-finds about about this, w-w-w-we’ll both be gutted and hung on the bridge as a lesson to the others!”

Raven’s reply is to strike Dustin across the face with her riding crop. Dustin instantly cowers at Raven’s feet. “Gem has left the ship to pursue her fortunes with the goody-goodies, which means this ship, and all aboard, are mine now. That includes you, you sniveling little worm.” She places a foot on a nearby chair. “Oh, would you look at that? It seems my boots are filthy. Your mistress demands that you clean them. Now!”

Dustin sniffles, then raises himself to all fours. Crawling over to Raven, he begins his humiliation, while thinking to himself, ‘I can’t let this continue. That other Gemini was right, I can try to be a beacon of light. This can’t go on, and I have to stop it somehow.’

* * *

"Captain's log, stardate 81685.3. The USS Endeavor has just departed drydock at Starbase 185 following a trans-dimensional encounter described in previous mission reports, beginning with stardate 81618.8. We now move on to our next assignment."

As she finishes recording the log entry, a shimmering light similar to that of a transporter fills the room, and Gem is astonished to see the flamboyant form of her mirror self materialise in her quarters. Thinking quickly, she reaches for her magic screwdriver. "Freeze, stay exactly where you are! I'm armed!"

Mirror Gem smirks darkly. "All alone, without any of your precious little "friends" to help you... This should be child's play." She takes out a knife and sticks it into Gem Prime's chest, near her heart. She collapses, her screwdriver falling to the floor, and lays still. Laughing softly, Mirror Gem crushes the magic screwdriver beneath her boots, then swaps her uniform for that of her counterpart's. That done, she steps into the corridor, heading toward the turbolift.

The bridge is populated not with Equestrians, but with the backup "night shift" crew. K’bleh stood at Tactical, while T’paz the Vulcan took up Twilight’s usual spot. The woman in the center seat looks up in surprise. "Captain Shadow?" she asks. "But you aren't supposed to come on duty until 0800 hours, and it's 0230 now!"

"I couldn't sleep," Mirror Gem lies. "On your feet, Miss Smith. You are relieved."

Miss Smith nods. "Certainly, ma'am," she says, getting up and heading to her usual station. 

* * *

Down in sickbay, a beeping noise begins from somewhere to Dustin's left. It's a quiet sound, but Dustin knows what it means, he and Gem installed it after her abduction by the Cardassians.

"Sir?" says one of the medics. "The captain's signal?"

Dustin is already running to the turbo lift as fast as he can. He has a bad feeling about this one.

* * *

Materializing in the trauma room in Sickbay, Dustin is greeted with surprised gasps at seeing Gem in a state of near-death. “Enough gawking, people, we have work to do! Prepare ten units of whole blood and five units of blood plasma, stat! Doctor Simmons, you’re my backup, prepare for emergency thoracic surgery!” The medical team springs into action, enclosing her in the sterile ‘clamshell’ surgical field generator.

A nurse intubates Gem while another studies the biometric readouts. “Pulse is practically nonexistent ... respiration returning to normal with ventilation...” She adjusts the cortical stimulators.

Dustin focuses a laser scalpel near the knife wound and widens it. “Dammit. Whoever did this nicked her superior vena cava. She’s practically empty, start infusing the plasma, let’s get her volume up.” He takes a suturing device and focuses it over the tear in her major vein. “There, that should take care of that, let’s get this wound closed and keep the fluids going.”

All watch the readouts nervously. “Four units in ... blood pressure rising, Doctor.”

“Good, let’s begin with whole blood. At least she’s not leaking from anywhere else.” He closes the main wound. “All right, let’s remove the tracheal tube,” he says. The nurse withdraws the tube and all study the readout. “She’s breathing on her own, Doctor,” the nurse states.

Dustin’s shoulders drop and he lets out a ragged sigh. “That was too close. Move her to recovery ward and keep the fluids going. Once her blood pressure stabilizes, stop fluids and monitor. I’ll be in my office. Call me if you need me.”

Entering his office, Dustin activates the lock and draws the shades over the office windows. In the dim light, he slumps into his chair and leans his head back. Tears slowly fill his eyes and he lets his emotions out as quietly as he can.

“Doctor, the captain is waking up,” Nurse Willow says after knocking on Dustin’s office door.

Quickly, Dustin exits the office, and he and the nurse hurry to Gem’s bedside. “Don’t try to move, Captain ... you’ve been through a lot, you need to rest now. You gave us quite a scare, but you’re going to be fine.”

"The last thing I remember..." Gem whispers in a hoarse voice, "is her..." 

"Her who?" Nurse Willow asks.

"The... other... me..." Gem replies, exchanging a significant look with Dustin.

* * *

"Helm, set a course for the planet Earth," Mirror Gem barks. "Tactical, prepare to fire all weaponry on my command once we arrive."

K'bleh's jaw drops. "...Captain, we would be attacking other Starfleet vessels! We can't do that!"

"I don't seem to recall allowing you to speak, you wretched beast," Mirror Gem hisses, producing her bloodstained knife and holding it to K'bleh's neck. "Do what I tell you or I'll kill you where you stand. Is that clear?"

K’bleh grins an evil grin. Knocking the knife away, she begins to grapple with Mirror Gem. As this is going on, Dustin’s voice comes over the intercom: “Sickbay to Bridge. We have an intruder aboard, she’s already attacked the captain. I recommend going to security alert.”

T’paz replies, in her typical Vulcan stoic manner. “Acknowledged, Doctor. The intruder is here on the bridge, and security officer K’bleh is attempting to subdue her. We will advise further. Bridge out.” She sees K’bleh pin Mirror Gem to the deck. Tapping her comm badge, T’paz says, “Bridge to security. Send officers to the bridge on the double for prisoner transport to the brig. Be advised, prisoner is extremely dangerous.”

"YOU DON'T KNOW THE HALF OF IT," snarls Mirror Gem, her eyes glowing white. She claps her hands once, producing magical lightning that shocks half the bridge crew and allows her to free herself from K'bleh's clutches. She escapes through the turbolift and picks a floor at random.

Red lights flash and klaxons blare throughout the ship. “Security alert, intruder on board. All decks, security alert,” T’paz’s voice announces over the shipwide intercom. Security officers fan out and begin searching on every deck.

In Sickbay, Dustin is instructing two security officers, “Your job is to protect the captain at all costs. Anyone except myself, command staff, or other medical staff try to enter this room? Shoot ‘em. If they don’t look dead enough, shoot ‘em again. Clear?” The officers nod and take positions outside of the recovery area.

Mirror Gem appears a moment later and blasts the two security officers with her phaser, disintegrating both of them instantly. She turns it on Dustin and smiles poisonously. "Well well well, if it isn't my favorite goodie-two-shoes, self-important little toadie," she says. "I see you haven't changed very much since I saw you last." She looks over at the bed where Gem Prime is lying. "And you've fixed her up too. Damn... a little further with that knife and her head would be lying on the floor."

“I thought I recognized that smell in Gem’s quarters,” Dustin retorted. “Hard to miss the smell of failure and daddy issues.” He stepped in between the two Gems. “So, what, still unable to get laid properly in that universe of yours, so you came here hoping to find me?”

Mirror Gem laughs coldly. "Certainly not. No no, I came here to kill her," she points to Gem Prime, "take over her ship and your precious Federation, installing myself as your new Empress." She runs her fingertips down Dustin's cheek. "How does Empress Gemini sound, hm?"

“Like someone needs their psych meds adjusted, or maybe you ate too many of your world’s Twilight’s brownies.” Dustin pinched Mirror Gem’s finger in between his own and removed it from his face. “I lean more toward the former, because you seem to think I’m gonna let you do whatever it is you want. Not likely.”

"Oh, you will," Mirror Gem says, but before she can do anything else, a lavender hand performs the Vulcan nerve pinch. Mirror Gem goes down immediately, landing in a heap as Raven steps into the sickbay. "Sorry I'm late," she says. "How's our patient?"

“Stable, and recovering nicely,” Dustin replies with a grin. “I expect her to be up and around in a day or so.” He points to Mirror Gem. “You’re gonna pick up your trash, right?”

"Without a doubt," Raven says, her hands glowing. Mirror Gem is surrounded in an aura of purple magic. "Alright you, let's get you to the brig..." And she walks off.

* * *

In the other sickbay, Mirror Raven nods contemptuously. "I suppose this will do," she says, looking down at the naked, bleeding form of Mirror Dustin below her. "You are dismissed until I have need of you again. And whatever you do, don't try anything funny, like going after my sister. Clear?"

“Y-y-y----yes, Mistress,” Dustin says quietly. He remains on the floor until Raven leaves. Slowly, he gets to his feet and searches for a uniform to wear. He winces at the pain as he gets dressed, blood seeping through the fabric of his tunic. Once dressed, he makes his way to the center of Sickbay. “C-computer, transport to Captain’s ready room,” Dustin says meekly.

Materializing in the ready room, Dustin finds the dimension ripper device. Grabbing it, he initiates transport back to Sickbay. Upon returning, he places the device down on a work table. “I hope this works,” he says out loud to no one as he activates his magic. He sees rift open, and hoping for the best, he steps through.

* * *

“Doctor Hoofer!” a nurse cries out in alarm as she sees Mirror Dustin crumple to the deck in Sickbay. She runs over to him with a small medikit in her hands.

Emerging from his office, Dustin Prime looks around. “Who called me?” he asks loudly before noticing the nurse tending to a patient. He walks over quickly. “Where did he come from? Look at the wounds on his back, someone must have--” He stops mid-sentence as Mirror Dustin raises his head. Mirror Dustin’s eyes go wide and he tries to say something.

Dustin Prime grins. “Doctor Hoofer, I presume?”

There was no answer as Mirror Dustin faints. Dustin Prime motioned for the medics to place him on a nearby biobed.

* * *

"Ship's log, supplemental," Raven intones, sitting in Gem's ready room. Mirror Gem's uniform is lying on the floor. "The captain's evil counterpart from the other universe materialized aboard and attempted to kill her, though fortunately, Dr. Hoofer was able to save her. In the meantime, we're plotted a course for Earth, intending to warn Starfleet of this incursion."

"Admiral Wilder on the main viewscreen, Commander," says Aria's voice.

Raven steps onto the main bridge, now holding Mirror Gem's outfit in her hands. "Admiral, I'll be brief: I believe we are going to be invaded. My sister's alternate counterpart has already caused chaos here, and while she is currently held in our brig, she's still extremely dangerous."

"A scan of the captain's ready room revealed traces of dimensional energy," Twilight added. "We believe she may be in possession of something that can, in layman's terms, punch a hole through reality, allowing the user to traverse dimensions at will. What do you advise?"

“Do what you can to keep her contained until you arrive. Unless there were more of her kind that followed her to this universe, I don’t see too much in the way of a direct threat, except to yourselves. Use whatever means are necessary to protect your lives and your ship.” Admiral Wilder sighed. “I admit, this sounds like something out of pure imagination, and if it weren’t happening right now, I’d dismiss it as random temporal disturbances. Did you find the device on her?”

Raven held up a small ring-like object. “This was on her person, and it holds a greater charge of dimensional energy. We speculate this might be the way to return to her own universe.”

Wilder nodded. “Keep that object safe until we can study it further here. We will await your arrival. Starfleet out.” The viewscreen reverted back to the starfield.

"Is it me, Commander, or do we tend to find ourselves facing a lot of these types of things?" Twilight says to Raven, counting off on her fingers. "There was that mission with Kirk in the 23rd century, that first visit with our evil selves, the reptiles from a few weeks ago, the Voyager crew, that strange fellow with the blue box who helped us fight off the Borg and those Cybermen, and now this. I don't know about Admiral Wilder, but I'd say this is pretty far from random."

"Whatever it is, Miss Sparkle," Raven says, "I hope it's dealt with quickly."

* * *

Mirror Gem paces in her cell, looking furious. "How DARE that... that witch attack me from behind like that, the cowardly scum! She should've faced me instead!" she yells. "When I get out of here, I'm going to throw her out the nearest airlock!"

From her post outside the cell, K’bleh growled. “Please try to escape, I would greatly welcome a rematch. Perhaps one where you fight with honor, instead of using your magic to gain the upper hand!”

Mirror Gem simply scowled at K’bleh. “Your kind make excellent pets in my universe,” she sneered.

K’bleh was about to react, but instead turned away and began to calm herself.

* * *

Dustin Prime waled Mirror Dustin into the recovery unit. “We’ll have you stay here while your wounds heal up a bit. So, let me introduce you to your roomie!” he steps aside to show Gem Prime in the other bed.

Mirror Dustin begins to whimper and cower behind Dustin Prime. “Hey, it’s okay ... she’s the good one. You’ll be safe here, I promise,” Dustin Prime soothed.

Mirror Dustin peeked around Dustin Prime and looked at Gem Prime. “D-d-do you remember me?” he asked meekly.

Gem Prime smiles and reaches out to touch Mirror Dustin's hand with her own, "Of course I do," she says. "I'm so glad to see you... if surprised. Why did you come?"

Mirror Dustin sighs. “Things haven’t been going well. My captain ... she has this dimension- ripping device that allows her to move in between here and our universe. I—I guess you already know that part. What you don’t know is that her sister has taken command of the ship and has threatened to kill the captain if she returns.” He turned and showed his back, full of cuts and bruises. “Her sister is even worse than the captain is. She did this when ... when she took ownership of me.”

Gem Prime gasped, horrified.

“I...I disobeyed an order to get here. I was told not to come and warn the captain about the plot against her. But I did anyway.” Mirror Dustin sat on the bed next to Gem Prime’s. He hung his head. “I know that if I go back ... if I can go back ... Commander Shadow will kill me for disobeying an order. While I’m here, Captain Shadow will kill me for going through her things without permission. Either way, I’m a goner, but it will end my pain...”

Dustin Prime looked at Gem. “He’s so cute, the poor thing ... can we keep him?”

"Of course we can," Gem says. "Dustin... I mean, Other Dustin, Dustin Squared... or something, I hereby declare that you are henceforth a member of this crew, effective immediately. Neither your former Captain nor your former Commander will be able to touch you now, I'll make sure of that." Then she thinks. "And if you could please grow a beard, or at least a goatee, it would be appreciated... we'll have to keep the two of you straight somehow."

“I’ll help you along, too,” Dustin Prime said, patting Mirror Dustin on the shoulder. “Seems like you could use a good shot of confidence and self-esteem.”

“Oh, thank you,” Mirror Dustin said, “but I’m afraid of hyposprays.” Dustin Prime shot Gem a look. “You’re gonna enjoy this, aren’t you?”

"It's a figure of speech," Gem says gently, before looking up at Dustin Prime and nodding. "Why not? Sonata has you, and..." she places a kiss on Mirror Dustin's cheek, "I do believe what he really needs is some tender loving care." Then she realizes something. "Am I able to go? I think I need to speak to my twin."

Mirror Dustin blushes at the kiss, as Dustin Prime chuckles. “I guess, if you feel strong enough, you can go, I really can’t stop you.”

Gem sits up, the sheet falling away from her. Mirror Dustin blushes furiously and covers his eyes. Dustin Prime cocks his head and says, “Although, you might want to find a uniform first.” Out of respect, he turns away so as not to stare at his nude captain.

"Yes, yes," Gem says, and goes off to do just that, wrapping a towel around herself in the meantime.

"Attention all hands," announces Raven as Gem is putting on her uniform, "The prisoner has escaped! The prisoner has-" She is cut off abruptly. Gem takes off toward the bridge as quickly as she can, and when she arrives, finds the entire bridge crew has been knocked out.

Mirror Gem turns around and smiles evilly. "Well well well, you bounced back nicely," she says. "Pity... I was hoping to take over your Federation."

"Of course you were," Gem Prime says. "That's exactly the kind of thing I would expect me to do, if I were a murderous, egotistical maniac." She crosses the room. "Not that your plan would have worked, anyway. My crew are loyal to me, they would never have done what you told them! You may look, sound, and act like me, but you're not the captain they know, and even if you managed to play along for a while, the mask would slip eventually! You're a barbarian, it's practically impossible for you to behave like a civilized person for very long!"

"Don't paraphrase that weakling Vulcan at me," Mirror Gem spat. "He was a worthless old fool who tried to make the Empire into a peaceful place. It failed, as it was always going to." She takes the ring and grabs Gem Prime's hand. "If I can't kill you here, I'll take you back to my place and do it there! And then, I'll come back here with a new crew, and this ship and your universe will be MINE!" A portal opens, and the two Gems go through.

The two Dustins and several security officers arrive on the bridge in time to see the rift closing behind the two Gems. They see the bridge crew unconscious on the floor. Dustin Prime turns to Mirror Dustin and asks, “You have had medical training, right?”

Mirror Dustin nods.

“Good,” Dustin Prime says, handing Mirror Dustin a medikit. “Start reviving the crew. I’ll take this half,” he says, indicating the half Sonata is in, “and you take the other one. We’ll meet in the middle.” The two doctors set about their task.

* * *

“Well well,” Mirror Raven says, leveling a blaster at the two Gems. “Not every day I get a two-for-one slaughter. And where’s that miserable little whipping boy of yours, dear sister?”

"Gone, apparently," Mirror Gem replies, straightening her tunic. She eyes the blaster. "What -is- this?! You were to relinquish your command of the ship immediately!"

"Mutiny, of course," Mirror Adagio replies. "We're tired of you running this place like you're a queen. At least under the captain's command, we'll become a real crew, instead of a bunch of slaves."

"-I- AM YOUR CAPTAIN!" Mirror Gem snarls. "GET BACK TO YOUR STATION, LIEUTENANT!"

"Never," Adagio hisses, and she punches Mirror Gem in the stomach, sending her to the floor.

Mirror Raven points her blaster at Mirror Gem's head. "At long last..." she says, about to pull the trigger.

Gem Prime's magic ensnares the blaster and sends it flying into a computer terminal, setting it on fire at once. "No," she says coldly. "You will not kill her, Raven. Nobody dies today."

Both Mirror Gem and Raven stare coldly at Gem Prime. “You insolent fool,” Raven hisses. “Who do you think you are to interfere in Imperial business?”

Adagio produces a stiletto and points it at Gem Prime’s neck. “Shall I make shish kebab, Captain?” she asks, licking her lips and staring at Raven.

“No,” both Mirror Gem and Raven replied simultaneously, which caused both of them to glare at each other.

“You better have a damn good reason for what you did,” Raven says icily to Gem Prime.

"I know that in this world, it is a form of career advancement," Gem Prime says, "But I don't care. Where I come from, murder is never justified, always wrong. And besides... don't you two see?" she asks, looking between Mirror Raven and Adagio, "This is all a waste! The waste of lives, potential, resources, time. I submit to you that your Empire is illogical because it cannot endure. I submit that you are illogical to be a willing part of it! If change is inevitable, predictable, beneficial, doesn't logic demand that you be a part of it? What will it be? Past or future? Tyranny or freedom?"

Raven turned to Mirror Gem. “You’re right, she is somewhat pompous, isn’t she?” 

Mirror Gem shrugged. “Told you so.”

Raven turned back to Gem Prime. “It’s been demonstrated in your universe that change isn’t always for the best. How many times has history repeated itself, despite your so-called level- headed ones inciting and bringing about change? I mean, in Earth history alone, look at what change produced: Hitler. Stalin. Pol Pot. Qaddafi. Hussein. Khomeini. Kim Jong-Un. Trump. Need I continue?”

Mirror Gem continued, “No empire endures forever. Regimes come and go, either peacefully--” she shivered at using that word-- “or forcefully. And yet, life continues, at least for a few. Nothing will change unless the entire system is either made the norm, or torn down and rebuilt from the ground up. Neither of which are going to happen. So, for now, it’s status quo, no matter how ‘illogical’ it may seem to an outworlder’s eyes.”

Gem Prime sighed. "Sorry James... I did my best," she mutters to no one, before turning back to Mirror Gem, Raven, and Adagio. "I'll be taking that," she says, snatching Mirror Gem's ring. "I need to get home somehow. And I hope... I dearly hope... I never see any of you ever again for as long as I live."

“Oh, we’re hardly through with your world, sister. You’ll see us again,” Mirror Raven said with an evil smile. She waved Adagio away from Gem Prime. “At least, some of us. Now get out of here before I change my mind and let Dagi Dearest kill you for the fun of it.”

"With pleasure," Gem Prime says. She steps through, and the portal closes behind her.

Mirror Raven smiles as she turns Adagio’s blaster on Mirror Gem. "Now then... to business." And she shoots Mirror Gem in the head, killing her instantly. Mirror Gem falls to the floor, lying in a crumpled heap.

“Nice shot, Captain,” Adagio remarks.

Raven grins. “I’ve been waiting to do that for years, Commander.” Blowing on the tip of her blaster, she sheathes it and nods. “Now, to business… I’d go torment Dustin some, but it seems he has absconded, and we are in need of a new ship’s doctor… any suggestions?”

Adagio thinks this over. “Sonata has been… _troublesome_ of late, I think she is harboring a secret affection for Dustin. Why not torture her for a while?”

Raven smiled. “I think that sounds perfect.” She leaves her ready room, closing the door behind her.


	6. A Sword in the Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Admiral Nechayev boards the Endeavour demanding to know about the dimensional ring that was used to bring the Mirror Equestrians to the Prime universe, allegedly to destroy the Terran Empire. Realising Nechayev may have an ulterior motive, Gem disobeys her orders and warns Empress Celestia, head of the Solar Empire, of Nechayev's plans.

Aboard the ISS _Endeavour_ , Raven sat in her ready room recording a log entry. ”Captain's log, stardate 81789.1: We are enroute to Earth to receive a new ship’s doctor now that our previous one, Dustin Hoofer, followed my idiot sister to that reflected universe. In the meantime, I’m settling in nicely to my new role as captain of the Endeavour.”

In her office at Starfleet Headquarters, Admiral Nechayev studied the reports from Raven about the reflected universe and the dimensional ripper, also noting the request for an acquisition of a new crew member. She closed the files and leaned back in her office chair.

“Great,” she said to no one but herself, “two universes full of these haymunching freaks, one of which is a group of peace-loving fools. And their group is in possession of a way to travel between the two.” She sighed. “Well, we’ll get it back somehow… And once we do, we can squash at least one threat to the Empire… and then we can worry about the one in our own universe.” she noted the time, and rose from her chair, on her way to prepare for the meeting she was both dreading and anticipating.

* * *

Admiral Nechayev materializes aboard the Endeavour’s transporter room, where Raven is waiting to greet her. 

"Welcome aboard, Admiral," Raven says, saluting. She and Nechayev begin to walk briskly toward the turbolift. "Now, exactly why are you here? Your communique was disappointingly vague,” Raven adds.

“It was purposefully vague to thwart any form of eavesdropping,” Nechayev explained. “There is a growing threat to the Empire, and this new dimension-traveling device is at the heart of it.”

“Good thing we’ve started work on a new model then,” Raven replies. “Since I became captain, I figured out how Gem put hers together. It runs on a combination of Equestrian magic and tachyon particles, meaning it can only be used by someone from Equestria. My chief engineer has been busy working on a prototype over the last few days, we should be able to it finished in a matter of weeks.” The turbolift opens out onto the main engineering room, where a [song](https://youtu.be/Z6Gr-7RuNzg) is playing on the speakers. The music stops as everyone salutes Nechayev.

Emerald approaches. "What can I do for you, Admiral?"

Nechayev’s face remains impassive. “I understand you’ve made progress with the dimensional traveler.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thanks to the prototype, we’ve managed to cut the recharge time to just over thirty minutes, and it’s possible we can get it even lower,” Emerald reports.

“Give this your top priority, Commander, and see if you can find a way to increase the power, to create a portal big enough to fly a starship through. I will expect daily reports on your status,” Nechayev ordered.

"I'll do what I can, Admiral," Emerald says, adjusting her glasses. "Alright everyone, back to work!"

"Dare I ask why you'd want to fly a ship through such a portal?" Raven asks curiously. She and Nechayev begin to head back the way they came.

“Not just one ship, but an entire fleet,” Nechayev replied. Based on my recommendations, the Terran Empire intends to neutralize our current biggest threat, the United Federation of Planets.”

Raven smiles evilly. “Neutralize, not just conquer? I like that idea. My dear departed sibling was utterly obsessed with becoming the Federation’s Empress, and needless to say, it became her undoing.” She offers Nechayev a hand. “I would be more than happy to cooperate, Admiral.”

“I was hoping so,” Nechayev said, shaking Raven’s hand. “Or you would be assigned permanently to the most remote listening post at the far edge of this galaxy.” The doors slide open and the admiral steps from the turbolift. Stepping onto the pad, she looks back at Raven. “I’ll be in touch with you soon, Captain Shadow. Until now, so long.” Nechayev nods to the transporter technician, who activates his console. She disappears in a shower of sparkles.

Raven’s smile faded abruptly, and she slammed a fist into the wall of the transporter room. “CONFOUND THESE TERRANS!” she yells. “I always figured they saw us as nothing more than a _resource_. We’ll show them!” She taps her commbadge. “Captain to bridge, senior staff report to my ready room, _now_. Got it?”

“Aye, captain,” say the voices of the bridge crew.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the senior staff of the Endeavour have reconvened in Raven’s ready room. Raven enters, looking tense. "The situation is this," she explains. "Admiral Nechayev wants to send a fleet through a dimensional portal so they can exterminate the United Federation of Planets." She sits down. “I have reason to believe that she won’t stop there. In fact, I think that once she has what she wants, she’ll turn around and kill all of us too. Any suggestions, everyone?"

“Obviously, we have to find a way to stop her,” Adagio noted. “We can’t let the humans take over the other universe. I think it’s time we showed them our true colors!” General nods of assent fill the room. “We’re Equestrians, not humans! And we should be the ones to destroy the Federation! It’s our technology, why shouldn’t we?”

“It’s settled then,” Raven decides. “Let’s go to Equestria and see what the Empress thinks of taking over the Terran Empire now, while they’re distracted with those goody-goody Federation types.”

The eight Equestrians cross back to the bridge and retake their positions. Raven sits down in her chair. “Helm, lay in a course for Equestria, maximum warp.”

“Plotted and laid in, Captain,” Sonata replied, tapping her console.

“Here goes nothing,” Raven said quietly. “Engage.” The warp engines came to life and the Endeavour leapt toward the distant stars.

* * *

In her ready room, Raven began to dictate: "Captain's personal log, supplemental: In direct defiance of Starfleet orders, we are enroute to Equestria to ask Empress Celestia if we may begin the decimation of the Terran Empire.”

The red lights and klaxons activated. “Captain to the bridge!” called Adagio.

Stepping from her ready room, Raven looked at the viewer. “Report!” she barked.

“Ship on intercept course,” Adagio replied.

“Hail them, Adagio,” Raven ordered. The bridge of the Miranda-class Endeavour appeared on the screen. “This is Captain Raven Shadow of—oh come on, not you again!” She face-palmed, her face was a mix of disbelief and disgust.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again, too, Captain,” the other Gem said dryly. “Only this time, we bring a warning to your leaders. Will you escort us to Equestria?”

Raven laughed. “What threat could you possibly pose to us?”

“It’s not us you have to worry about,” Gem replied coolly. “It’s my superiors. They have plans for the dimension-hopping technology my other self built, and they aren’t good. Now, about that escort...”

Raven huffed. “Fine. But if the Empresses kill you on sight, don’t come crying to me, I can only guarantee you’ll get there in one piece.”

Gem nodded. “Duly noted. Endeavour out.”

* * *

A giant emblem of a sun with a blackened center hung in the throne room of Empress Celestia Solaris, Grand Overlord of the Equestrian Solar Empire. She sat on a throne mounted on a tall platform in the center of the room. To her right, and pointedly lower, sat the throne of Grand Enforcer Luna Noctis. On a red carpet in front of the platform, Gem stood proud and confident, while next to her, Dusk was fully prostrate, covering his face and trying to become one with the brickwork in the floor.

Celestia laughed sadistically. “What comes before us today, dear sister? It appears the weaklings from the Federation have come to grovel at our hooves. And look, they returned our naughty runaway pet. Sister, how long has it been since you taught our pet the true nature of obedience?”

Luna grinned wickedly. “Far too long, sister dearest.”

Celestia made herself comfortable on her throne and glared hard at Gem. “You claim to have a warning for us. Well, go ahead. Sound your warning. But be aware, if we don’t feel threatened enough, we might just kill you for wasting our precious time.” Dusk audibly whimpered upon hearing this.

"Your Eminence, I come before you to say that Admiral Alynna Nechayev is organizing a fleet that will, through the technology developed by your dimension's version of me, have enough strength behind it to utterly annihilate not just the Terran Empire, but your own as well. She has told me this herself, but I refuse to go along with her plan." She places a protective hand on Dusk's shoulder. "I realize our goals are fundamentally opposed to each other. I seek to explore, you seek to conquer. But I ask you, as a fellow Equestrian, to let us protect you against the Admiral's fleet. Our technology is strong, and if she is allowed to wipe you off the face of existence, I truly believe she will do the same to my Equestria. And I cannot, will not, allow that to happen." She bows. "Will you let us help?"

Empress Celestia looks at the human prostrating herself, and snorts. "It would seem the reports we have read are true, sister. These Federation types are so obsessed with peace and tranquility." She rises from her throne and approaches Gem, drawing herself to her full height. "You realize, that if we even considered this admiral of yours a threat, we could simply blink her out of existence with but a single thought. If we were to work with you, what benefit would we reap in return?"

"Sister," Enforcer Luna observed, "we have also seen reports that this Federation boasts stronger weaponry than the Terrans of this universe. While one admiral is not a direct threat to your rule, an entire fleet could very well accomplish the very goal the captain speaks about. With all respect, our primary goal is to preserve our race, and I see this admiral's ramblings as a clear threat to our survival."

Gem nods. "She has expressed an intense hatred of our kind... earlier this year, she rid me of command and lured my ship to Cardassian space under false pretenses, where I was then tortured." With her magic, she produces a window screen depicting some of the things Gul Madred did to her. "Work with us, and your survival will continue. And should the Federation decide it needs to attack you again afterward... you need only call for us." She offers her hand. "Do you accept?"

"Your concern for our well-being touches me." Celestia returns to her throne. "Very well. We shall work with you to combat this threat. I will warn you," she threatened, "any attempt to cross us will result in the destruction of you and your vessel, along with as much of the Federation as we are capable of destroying.” She points a hoof at Dusk. “You. We will speak to you before you depart. Captain, if you would wait in the outer hall for a moment.” It was clear that this was a command rather than a suggestion.

"I..." Enforcer Luna glares at Gem. "Very well." Exchanging an apologetic look with Dusk, Gem quickly heads out into the outer hall.

The doors close and Celestia walks slowly over to Dusk. “So...you seem to be enjoying your time with your little Federation playmates, aren’t you?” She placed a hoof under his chin and lifted his head, looking him in the eyes. “Raven told me what a naughty little boy you were. Turning against her like that, disobeying her orders...that’s tantamount to treason, you know.” Luna licked her lips in anticipation of a good old-fashioned vivisection. Dusk could only nod sadly, tears running down his face.

Celestia placed a kiss on his cheek, one that sent shivers of fright down his spine. “We have need of you, for once in your pathetic little life. You will watch these Federation types, and if they appear ready to move against us, you will kill them immediately.” She levitated a device over next to Dusk’s head and with a blink of her magic, the device was implanted at the base of his skull. “We will watch, and if you enter this realm again without being invited, you will surely die. Now, get out of my sight.” She turned and walked back to her throne while Dusk slinked away, head low, walking backward toward the doors. Upon exiting the throne room, he collapsed in a fit of tears.

* * *

The mood aboard the Galaxy-class _Endeavour_ was bleak. Raven sat in her chair, looking concerned.

“Something wrong, Captain?” Sunset asked.

Raven nodded. “It seems we’ve underestimated these Federation types… it appears not all of them are into peace and love.”

“Are we still going to take them over?” Sunset asked.

Raven shook her head. “There’s no point, they’d wipe us all out in a heartbeat. No… we need to gain strength first.” She smiled deviously. “Fortunately, I hatched a plan while the good captain was talking to the Empress. I swapped one of their lowly crew members for one of ours, and gave them a special communicator that’s constantly locked onto our location in space. They’ll send us regular reports about the Federation’s activities, so we can adequately prepare ourselves for our eventual takeover. In the meantime…” She looked over to Adagio. “Hail the other Endeavour.”

The viewer filled with the image of the good Gemini. “We’ve been ordered to escort you out of our space, Captain,” Raven said. “Quite frankly, what you told the Empress has all of us nervous. Let’s hope we never have to meet again, or it will be bloody.”

"Don't blame me, Captain Raven, blame Nechayev," Gem replies. "As you told me when we last met, I don't think we're quite done with each other. Endeavour out." The two ships flew off toward prime space.


End file.
